§ Procedure for preparing and bringing into operation an agreed syllabus of religious instruction.
§
2. For the purpose of constituting such a conference as aforesaid, the local education authority shall appoint committees consisting of persons representing respectively—
(c) associations representative of teachers in the area; and
§ 10. If the authority report to the Minister that the conference are unable to reach unanimous agreement as aforesaid, or if it appears to the Minister that an authority have failed to adopt any syllabus unanimously recommended to them by the conference, the Minister shall appoint a body of persons having experience in religious instruction to prepare a syllabus of religious instruction.
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11. The body of persons so appointed:
(a) shall consist of persons representing respectively the Church of England and other religious denominations, associations of teachers and local education authorities;
§ THE EARL OF SELBORNE moved, in paragraph 2, to leave out "committees" and insert "constituent bodies (hereinafter referred to as 'committees')." The noble Earl said: My Lords, this Amendment is moved to meet a point raised in Committee by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London, who suggested the word "panels" instead of "committees." The word "panels" does not seem happy to His Majesty's Government, and I propose the words "constituent bodies" in order to make it clear that the bodies mentioned in the four sub-paragraphs of paragraph 2 of the Schedule are constituent bodies of one committee. It is proposed, however, subsequently to call both of these committees, as "constituent bodies" is rather an awkward phrase to keep on saving. I hope the right reverend Prelate will feel that we have met him on this point.
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Amendment moved—
Page 97, line 9, leave out ("committees") and insert ("constituent bodies (hereinafter referred to as 'committees')").—(The Earl of Selborne.)
THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDONMy Lords, I admire the ingenuity with which a solution has been found. I am very well content with it and am grateful for it.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
893
§
THE EARL OF SELBORNE moved, in paragraph 2 to leave out sub-paragraph (c) and insert:
(c) such associations representing teachers as, in the opinion of the authority, ought, having regard to the circumstances of the area, to be represented;
The noble Earl said: My Lords, this is intended to deal with another point raised by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London. He pointed out that in the Bill as it now stands a certain local authority has apparently interpreted the words in paragraph (c)—"associations representative of teachers in the area"—as being adequately fulfilled by something only representative of one association. In order to make such a mistake impossible I propose that those words be left out and that the following words be put in instead:
(c) such associations representing teachers as, in the opinion of the authority, ought, having regard to the circumstances of the area, to be represented;
That, we feel, should make it abundantly clear to every local authority that this is to be a really representative constituent body of teachers, and certainly not drawn merely from one association. Of course, in addition to that, there is the safeguard provided in the clause that the Lord Chancellor moved some time ago.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 97, line 16, leave out sub-paragraph (c) and insert the said new sub-paragraph (c).—(The Earl of Selborne.)
THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDONMy Lords, the point has, I think, been entirely met by what is now proposed.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ THE EARL OF SELBORNE moved, in paragraph 10, to leave out all words after "appoint" and insert "to prepare a syllabus of religious instruction a body of persons having experience in religious instruction which shall, so far as is practicable, be of the like representative character as is required by paragraph 2 of this Schedule in the case of a conference." The noble Earl said: My Lords, the object of this Amendment is merely to gild the lily of the Bishop of Chichester's Amendment moved in the Committee stage. When I accepted that Amendment I did stipulate that it was subject to the drafting being looked into, and it is now thought that the language of the right reverend Prelate's Amendment could 894 be improved. For instance, the wording that I accepted at the instigation of the right reverend Prelate in Committee did not allow for the case of Wales, and that is covered by the form of words I now propose. I hope the right reverend Prelate will accept this as a better form of the Amendment moved in Committee.
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Amendment moved—
Page 98, line 19, leave out from ("appoint") to the end of line 20 and insert the said new words.—(The Earl of Selborne.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ THE EARL OF SELBORNE moved to leave out sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 11 The noble Earl said: My Lords, this is consequential.
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Amendment moved—
Page 98, line 22, leave out sub-paragraph (a).—(The Earl of Selborne.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF SELBORNE moved to add to the schedule:
12. Whenever a local education authority are of opinion (whether upon representations made to them or otherwise) that any agreed syllabus for the time being adopted by them ought to be reconsidered, the authority shall cause to be convened for that purpose a conference constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule. If the conference convened for the reconsideration of any syllabus unanimously recommend that the existing syllabus should continue to be the agreed syllabus or that a new syllabus should be adopted in substitution therefor the authority may give effect to the recommendation of the conference, but if the authority report to the Minister that the conference are unable to reach unanimous agreement, or if it appears to the Minister that the authority have failed to give effect to the unanimous recommendation of the conference, the Minister shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 10 of this Schedule, and paragraph 11 thereof shall apply accordingly.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, this is to meet a point made, I think, by the Bishop of Chichester in Committee. It is in order to remove any possibility of doubt that this paragraph is inserted, to make it clear that the conference that draws up the agreed syllabus can be reconvened. The right reverend Prelate pointed out that a local education authority, or the leaders of religion in any locality, might realize that other local education authorities had better agreed syllabuses than they had, and he contended that there was no machinery in the Bill to enable the local education authority to convene a new conference to bring 895 about an improved syllabus. In order to make that point quite clear this Amendment is now moved.
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Amendment moved—
Page 98, line 38, at end insert the said new paragraph.—(The Earl of Selborne.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Eighth Schedule [Amendment of Enactments]:
§ THE EARL OF SELBORNEMy Lords, these are purely drafting Amendments.
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 101, leave out lines 29 to 35.
§ Page 105, line 22, at end insert:
| ("Section eighty-seven | In subsection (1), after the words 'this Act,' where those words first occur, there shall be inserted the words 'other than an offence under Section seventy-eight of this Act'; in subsection (3), for the words 'an offence under this Act' there shall be substituted the words 'any such offence as aforesaid'") |
| ("Section one hundred and four | In subsection (1), after the word 'Act,' where that word first occurs there shall be inserted the words 'except under Section seventy-eight thereof'") |
§ Page 105, line 29, leave out ("or in pursuance of").—(The Earl of Selborne.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ Ninth Schedule [Enactments repealed]:
§ THE EARL OF SELBORNEMy Lords, these are also all drafting Amendments.
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 107, line 21, column 3, at the beginning insert ("In Section ninety-four the words 'aided provided or'")
§ Page 107, line 49, at end insert:
| ("1 Ed. 8 & 1 Geo. 6. c. 67. | The Factories Act,1937. | In subsection (1) of section one hundred and fifty-two, in the definition of 'young person' the words from 'but does not include' to the end of the definition."). |
§ Page 108, line 24, at end insert ("in Section sixty-four the words 'aided provided or'").
§ Page 109, line 24, column 3, after ("(4);") insert ("in").
§ Page 109, line 25, at end insert ("the words from '1921' to the end of subsection; in Section one hundred and four, in subsection (2), the words 'Section seventy-eight or'; and").—(The Earl of Selborne.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ LORD RANKEILLOURMy Lords, may I ask when it is proposed to take the Third Reading of the Bill?
§ LORD TEMPLEMOREMy Lords, it is proposed to take the Third Reading on Tuesday next, July 18.