HL Deb 29 November 1960 vol 226 cc995-1001

2.45 p.m.

THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (LORD MERTHYR)

My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. Perhaps I should apologise to the House for the large number of Amendments to the Standing Orders to which I am asking your Lordships to agree, but I should like to attempt to justify the length of the list by saying that I think it is most desirable that the book containing the Standing Orders should now be reprinted, and I am sure the House will agree that, before reprinting, it would be wise to go through the Standing Orders in order to clarify them and bring them up to date. That is what I am attempting to do in moving this Motion to-day.

I propose to mention only a few of the Amendments on the Order Paper, but it may he needless for me to say that, if any noble Lord wishes to ask a question. I will do my utmost to give him the necessary information.

Of the total number of Amendments on the Paper, which, if I have counted them aright, number 66, I am in a posi- tion to say that, in my opinion, none of these is controversial. Furthermore, of this number of 66, 37 appear to me to be drafting Amendments. Of the remainder, perhaps I might mention that some of them refer to Scotland, and it has been found possible to simplify several of the Standing Orders referring to Scotland because, as no doubt your Lordships are aware, the Private Bill procedure in relation to Scotland is largely replaced by the Provisional Order procedure and there is a separate set of Standing Orders relating to Provisional Orders. Then, I am advised that the phrase "administrative county" is a legal terminology which is not known in Scotland, and therefore, it has been replaced in the Standing Orders. Then, again, there is in the whole country, I understand, only one city that is not also a borough; and, that being so, it has been found possible to simplify the wording and to cut out a good many words from the Standing Orders.

The new Standing Order 19B is inserted for the protection of debenture holders. Ordinary shareholders are already protected, and it seems to me, therefore, wise that debenture holders should be likewise protected. The Amendment to Standing Order 22 results from the fact that it is often extremely difficult to serve a notice on a parish council or a parish meeting because of the large number of those bodies that there are in this country. There are some which have no office and others which have no clerk. There are several Amendments to Standing Order 61, but I will mention only one of them. It seems to me that where it is necessary to advertise in local newspapers, in such a way as to make a fact as widely known as possible, it is better to advertise in a paper which circulates in the locality rather than one which is published in the locality; because, of course, there may be papers which are published in one place but which circulate in another place some distance away.

Finally, my Lords, I would just mention the long letter which is printed as Appendix A. That deals with notices to owners of land on compulsory acquisition of land and cases where, during the passage of a Bill through Parliament, it is necessary for the works mentioned in the Bill to be altered and fresh notices therefore have to be served. That letter has been extensively revised and brought up to date. In particular, it has been altered in such a way as to deal with late Bills—that is, Bills deposited after the due date in each year and necessitating the Standing Orders being waived accordingly. I hope that I have sufficiently dealt with this long list, but if there are any other points with which noble Lords wish me to deal, I will try to do so. I bee to move.

Moved, That the Standing Orders relating to Private Bills be amended as follows:

Standing Order 1, page 11, line 6, after ("county") insert ("in relation to England or Wales")

Standing Order 1, leave out lines 7 to 9

Standing Order 1, page 11, line 34, leave out from the first ("London") to the end of line 37

Standing Order 4A, line 18, leave out ("county boroughs and burghs") and insert ("and county boroughs")

Standing Order 4A, line 28, leave out ("county borough or burgh") and insert ("or county borough")

Standing Order 4A, line 31, leave out ("county borough or burgh") and insert ("or county borough")

Sanding Order 5, page 15, line 4, leave out ("cities")

Sanding Order 5, page 15, line 25, leave out ("city")

Sanding Order 5, page 15, line 29, at end insert—

("(2) This Order shall apply to the City of London as if it were a borough.")

Standing Order 6, page 15, line 36, leave out ("city")

Standing Order 6, page 15, line 40, at end insert—

("(2) This Order shall apply to the City of London as if it were a borough.")

Standing Order 10, lines 18 and 19, leave out ("county boroughs and burghs") and insert ("and county boroughs")

Standing Order 10, line 27, leave out ("county borough or burgh") and insert ("or county borough")

Standing Order 10, lines 30 and 31, leave out ("county borough or burgh") and insert ("or county borough")

Standing Order 13, page 18, line 23, leave out ("or user")

Standing Order 13, page 18, after ("land") insert ("or of rights to use land")

After Standing Order 19A, page 20, insert as a new Standing Order 19B— Notice to debenture holders

19B.—(1) On or before the Eleventh day of Decemberin the case of a Bill whereby it is proposed to vary the rights of all or any of the debenture holders of any local authority, or of any company within the meaning of the Companies Act. 1948, or otherwise constituted, notice in writing of the proposal shall be given to each of the debenture holders whose rights it is proposed to vary.

(2) A Bill shall be deemed for the purposes of this Order to vary the rights of the holder of a debenture only if it authorizes—

  1. (a) in the case of an irredeemable debenture, its redemption:
  2. (b) in the case of a redeemable debenture, the alteration of the date or the terms on which it may he redeemed;
  3. (c) the creation or issue of any debenture with priority over, or ranking pari passu with, the first-mentioned debenture contrary to the terms on which that debenture was created or issued.

(3) In this Order "debenture" means any debenture, debenture stock, mortgage or other similar security issued by a local authority or company, whether or not it entitles the holders thereof to a charge on the whole or any part of the property of the authority or company, and "debenture holder" shall be construed accordingly.")

Standing Order 22, page 20, line 46, at end insert— ("(1A) This Order, in its application to a local authority being a parish council, shall have effect as if the reference to the clerk of the authority included a reference to the chairman thereof and as if the reference to the principal office of the authority included a reference to the usual place of abode of the clerk or chairman thereof, and in its application to a local authority being a parish meeting, shall have effect as if the reference to the clerk of the authority and the principal office thereof were a reference to the chairman thereof and his usual place of abode.")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 19, leave out ("district") and insert ("area")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 22, leave out ("road") in both places and insert ("highway")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 26, leave out ("districts") and insert ("areas")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 27, leave out ("road") and insert ("highway")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 27, leave out ("districts") and insert ("areas")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 28, leave out ("road") and insert ("highway")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 29, leave out ("road") and insert ("highway")

Standing Order 25, page 21, line 29, leave out lines 32 and 37 and insert— ("In this Order 'road' has the same meaning as in the Tramways Act. 1870. local authority means the council of a county borough or county district, the Common Council of the City of London or the London County Council, and references to the area of a local authority are, in relation to the London County Council, references to the county of London exclusive of the City.")

Standing Order 27, page 22, line 1, leave out ("or user")

Standing Order 27, page 22, line 2, after ("buildings") insert ("or of rights to use any lands or buildings")

Standing Order 28, page 23, line 19, leave out ("city")

Standing Order 28, page 23, line 22, leave out ("city")

Standing Order 28, page 23, line 41, at end insert— ("(4) This Order shall apply to the county of London as if it consisted of two counties, namely, the City of London and the rest of the administrative county; and 'local authority' and 'clerk' shall be construed accordingly.")

Standing Order 37, page 26, line 22, leave out ("or user")

Standing Order 37, page 26, line 23, after ("thereof") insert ("or of rights to use any churchyard, burial ground or cemetery, or any part thereof")

Standing Order 37, page 26, line 29, leave out ("or user")

Standing Order 37, page 26, line 29, after ("land") insert ("or of rights to use any land")

Standing Order 39, page 27, line 41, leave out ("city") and insert ("of the City of London or of any")

Standing Order 39, page 27, line 44, leave out ("Acts, 1836 to 1947, and") and insert ("Act, 1953, or the Registration Service Act, 1953, or")

Standing Order 39, page 28, line 3, leave out ("city") and insert ("of the City of London or of any")

Standing Order 41, page 28, lines 33 and 34, leave out ("county or borough, or district council") and insert ("highway authority")

Standing Order 44, page 29, line 22, leave out from ("Clerk") to ("comprises") in line 24 and insert ("of each local authority whose area")

Standing Order 44, page 29, line 26, at end insert— ("In this Order 'local authority' does not include a parish council or a parish meeting, or a borough which has been included in a rural district.")

Standing Order 45, page 30, line 10, at end insert— ("(4) In this Order local authority includes any local or public authority having power to levy a rate or having power by precept or otherwise to require the payment from some other authority of money which is, or can ultimately be, raised by the levy of a rate, and 'rate' means a rate the proceeds of which are applicable to public local purposes and which is leviable on the basis of an assessment in respect of the yearly value of property")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 16, leave out from the beginning to the second ("in") in line 17

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 18, leave out from ("made") to ("and") in line 22

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 31, leave out ("or Edinburgh")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 32, leave out ("successive") and insert ("consecutive")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 33, leave out ("some one and the same") and insert ("a")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 33, leave out ("published") and insert ("circulating")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 34, after ("county") insert ("or county borough")

Standing Order 62, page 37, lines 12 and 13, leave out ("some one and the same") and insert ("a")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 14, leave out ("some one and the same") and insert ("a local")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 15, leave out ("published") and insert ("circulating")

Standing Order 61, page 36, line 15, after ("county") insert ("(other than London), county borough or burgh")

Standing Order 65, page 41, lines 7 and 8, leave out ("some one and the same") and insert ("a")

Standing Order 65, page 41, line 9, leave out ("some one and the same") and insert ("a local")

Standing Order 65, page 41, line 10, leave out ("published") and insert ("circulating")

Standing Order 65, page 41, line 10, after ("county") insert ("(other than London), county borough or burgh")

Standing Order 118, page 57, lines 38 and 39, leave out ("borough or districts so alleged to be affected") and insert ("such area")

Standing Order 119, page 57, line 42, leave out ("such city") and insert ("the City or the")

Standing Order 119, page 57, line 42, after ("district") insert ("as the case may be")

Standing Order, 132, page 60, line 11, after ("by") insert ("or under the authority of")

Standing Order 140, page 62, line 15, at end insert— ("(2) In this Order local authority includes any local or public authority having power to levy a rate or having power by precept or otherwise to require the payment from some other authority of money which is, or ultimately can be, raised by the levy of a rate, and 'rate' means a rate the proceeds of which are applicable to public local purposes and which is leviable on the basis of an assessment in respect of the yearly value of property.")

Standing Order 179, page 73, line 47, leave out ("or user")

Standing Order 179, page 73, line 47, after ("land") insert ("or of rights to use land")

Standing Order 205A, page 82, line 12, leave out ("or use")

Standing Order 205A, page 82, line 12, after ("land") insert ("or of rights to use land")

Part XII, Appendix A, leave out page 90 and insert—

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