ORDERS TRANSFERRING FUNCTIONS OR PROPERTY OF OTHER AUTHORITIES AND UNDER- TAKINGS (Hansard, 21 February 1963)

HL Deb 21 February 1963 vol 246 cc1521-6 1521

§ 1. Before determining whether to make an order on an application under section 75 of this Act, the Ministers shall consult the body (other than the applicants) to or from whom any functions or property are proposed in the application to be transferred, and shall consider any representations made by that body with respect to the application.

§ 2. If the Ministers propose to make an order on the application, they shall prepare a draft order, and shall cause notice of their intention to make an order, and of the place where copies of the draft order, and of any map to which it refers, may be inspected and obtained, and of the lime (not being less than twenty-eight days) within which, and the manner in which, objections to the draft order may be made—

(a) to be published in the London Gazette, and in such other manner as they think best adapted for informing persons affected, and
(b) to be served on the bodies to or from whom any functions or property are proposed to be transferred, and on any other body, being a navigation authority, conservancy authority, harbour authority or 1522 statutory water undertakers, appearing to the Ministers to be affected by the proposals.

§ 3. Before making any order on the application, the Ministers shall consider any objections which may be duly made to the draft order, and may if they think fit cause a local inquiry to be held with respect to any such objections; and in making the order the Ministers may make such modifications in the terms of the draft as appear to them desirable.

§ 4.—(1) After making such an order, the Ministers shall, if an objection has been duly made by any body on whom notice is required to be served under paragraph 2 of this Schedule and has not been withdrawn, serve notice of the making of the order and the effect thereof on every such body who has duly made objection which has not been withdrawn.

§ (2) Where a notice is required to be served under the preceding sub-paragraph, the order shall not have effect before the expiry of a period of twenty-eight days from the date of service of that notice, and if within that period any such body gives notice to the Ministers objecting to the order, and the objection is not withdrawn, the order shall be subject to special parliamentary procedure.

§ 5. After making the order, the Ministers shall publish in the London Gazette, and in such other manner as they think best adapted for informing persons affected, a notice stating that the order has been made, and naming a place where a copy thereof may be seen at all reasonable hours:

§ Provided that, in the case of an order to which sub-paragraph (1) of the last preceding paragraph applies, the notice shall not be published until the expiry of the period of twenty-eight days referred to in sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph, and shall state whether or not the order is to be subject to special parliamentary procedure.

§ 6.—(1) Subject to the next following subparagraph, if any person aggrieved by an order under section 75 of this Act desires to question its validity on the ground that it is not within the powers of this Act, or that any requirement of this Act has not been complied with in relation to the order, he may, within six weeks after the first publication of the notice required by the last preceding paragraph, make an application for the purpose to the High Court; and if any such application is duly made, the court, if satisfied that the order is not within the powers of this Act or that the interests of the applicant have been substantially prejudiced by any requirements of this Act not having been complied with, may quash the order either generally or in so far as it affects the applicant.

§ (2) The preceding sub-paragraph shall not apply to any order which is confirmed by Act of Parliament under section 6 of the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945, and shall have effect in relation to any other order which is subject to special parliamentary procedure by virtue of the provisions of this Schedule as if, for the reference to the first publication of the notice required by the last preceding paragraph, there were substituted a reference to the date on which the order becomes operative under the said Act of 1945.

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§ (3) Except as provided by sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, the validity of an order under section 75 of this Act shall not be questioned in any legal proceedings whatsoever.

§ 7. The costs incurred by the Ministers in connection with the making and notification of an order under section 75 of this Act, including any costs incurred in relation to any such order under the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945, shall be paid by the applicants for the order, and, if there are two or more applicants, the Ministers may apportion the costs between them; and the Ministers may require any applicants to give security for the payment of any costs payable by them under this paragraph.

§ 8. In relation to an application for, or the making of, an order transferring to a river authority any functions or property of a navigation authority, conservancy authority or harbour authority, the Ministers' in this Schedule means the Minister, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Minister of Transport acting jointly."

§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, this Amendment arises from the undertaking I gave to the noble Lord, Lord Lindgren, during Committee stage that a Schedule setting out the procedure for dealing with orders under Clause 75—that is to say, the transfer of property from one to another—would be proposed; and this is that Schedule. During Report stage the noble Lord spoke on this subject during the discussion on an Amendment paving the way, and expressed himself more than satisfied with it; but, even so. perhaps I should mention three outstanding features without going any further into the details of this rather long Schedule. The three features are: first, compulsory or statutory consultation by the Ministers with the body other than the body applying for the transfer; second, the obligation on Ministers before making an order to consider objections with power to hold a local inquiry; third, after the making of an order, in the event of further objection by such a body not being withdrawn, the order is to be subject to Special Parliamentary Procedure. There is, in fact, a fourth point which I should like to read out for the special benefit of my noble friend Lord Colville of Culross, because there is also in paragraph 6 a right to challenge in the High Court on the grounds that an order is not within the powers of the Bill or that the requirements of the Bill have not been complied with. I beg to move.

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§ Amendment moved— After Schedule 8, insert the said new Schedule.—(Lord Hastings.)