§ 6.47 p.m.
§ Report of Amendments received (according to Order).
§ Clause 3 [Permits for the provision of amusements with prizes]:
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THE EARL OF KINNOULL moved, in subsection (1), to leave out "the generality of that discretion" and to insert:
any ground on which the local authority might have refused to grant or renew the permit if this subsection had not been passed".
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The noble Earl said: My Lords, before I begin to speak to the Amendment, it might be convenient at this time to draw your Lordships' attention to a misprint in the Bill on page 3, line 40. The Bill should read:
Section 2 of this Act shall not come into operation until 31st October, 1965"—
not Section 1.
§ In moving Amendment No. 1, I should like to say that it has been put down at this Report stage in direct consequence of an Amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Ilford, in the Com- 530 mittee stage. Your Lordships will recall that the noble Lord's Amendment proposed to allow local authorities the express power of refusing a permit on the grounds of character and record of the applicant or occupier. I undertook that this Amendment would be looked at again. It was suggested at the time by a number of your Lordships, because of the recent High Court judgment in the case of Hewison v. Skegness U.D.C., which laid down that local authorities had power to refuse a permit on the grounds of character and record of the occupier under their general discretion in Schedule 6 of the 1963 Act, that unless these grounds were specifically included in this Bill, an ingenious advocate might try to persuade a court that such grounds were not Parliament's intention. The point was also put by the noble Lord, Lord Champion, as to whether it was wrong to incorporate in this Bill part of Schedule 6 to the 1963 Act. The answer is that it is not wrong, but it would seem unnecessary, since it is the declared intention that the effect of Schedule 6 and the recent court ruling should not be in any way affected by this Bill.
§ This Amendment has been drafted to give effect to the main purpose of the Amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Ilford, namely, that local authorities should have power to refuse a permit on the ground of the character and record of the occupier. However, it has been redrafted because of certain technical difficulties. The power of refusal will be at the discretion of local authorities under Schedule 6, and will remain strengthened by the High Court judgment. By coming under Schedule 6, this power applies both to amusement places as well as to other premises. If this Amendment came under the wing of Clause 3 of the Bill, the power would not extend to amusement places, and an ingenious advocate might try to persuade a court that it was not the intention of Parliament that it should do so. Before I move the Amendment, I should like to express my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Ilford, for his cooperation in the re-drafting of this Amendment. I believe that the Amendment, in its present form, will be beneficial to the Bill and will fulfil the wish expressed in your Lordships' House on Committee stage. I beg to move.
531
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Amendment moved—
Page 2, line 23, at end insert the said words.—(The Earl of Kinnoull.)
§ LORD ILFORDMy Lords, this Amendment meets, and appears to meet fully, the point which I raised on Committee stage last week. All that remains for me is to express to the noble Earl my appreciation of the manner in which he has handled this matter. Of course, we all prefer the language of our own Amendments. I am bound to say in this case that I think the words which I proposed to insert in the Bill were more free from circumlocution than the language which is now proposed, but I concede that there may be advantages in doing it in this way. It would be very unbecoming and I think unfitting, in view of the way in which the noble Earl has met me, that I should dwell for long on that aspect of the matter.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, I am grateful for what the noble Lord has just said.
§ 6.53 p.m.
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THE EARL OF KINNOULL moved, after subsection (4), to insert:
() Notwithstanding anything in paragraph 3 of the said Schedule 6, a local authority may refuse to grant or renew a permit under that Schedule in respect of any premises if they or their authorised representatives have been refused reasonable facilities to inspect the premises.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, in rising to move this Amendment, I would say that again it stems from an earlier Amendment moved during the Committee stage by the noble Lord, Lord Ilford. Your Lordships will recall that his Amendment was designed to give local authorities the express power to enter and inspect premises in order to consider whether a permit should be issued or refused. I advised your Lordships at the time that the Amendment as then drafted could not be accepted, since it went outside the scope of the Bill and would have an effect on the whole 1963 Act. However, the point was made by the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd (who I see is not present in the Chamber), as to whether a refusal by the occupier of entry would itself be ground for the local authority's refusing a permit. I undertood to consider this Amendment again, and I have 532 now been advised, by expert opinion, that it seems doubtful whether refusal of facilities to local authorities would in itself constitute sufficient ground for the local authority's refusal to issue a permit.
§ This new Amendment has been put down, therefore, to include specific provision by which local authorities must be given reasonable facilities to inspect premises when considering applications for permits. The Amendment, with the assistance of Parliamentary draftsmen, covers, I believe, the main purpose of the noble Lord's original Amendment. I am most grateful to the noble Lord for raising the matter in the first place and for the important observation made by the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, on Committee stage. I beg to move.
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Amendment moved—
Page 3, line 28 at end insert the said subsection.—(The Earl of Kinnoull.)
§ LORD ILFORDMy Lords, here again the noble Earl has met the point which I raised on Committee stage last week, and I am very grateful to him for the manner in which this matter has been dealt with. I am sure this Amendment will facilitate the task of those whose duty it will be to administer this Bill when it becomes law. It will not be an easy task, and I am sure that this Amendment will make it more simple than it would otherwise be.
§ LORD CHAMPIONMy Lords, my noble friend Lord Shepherd has asked me to join with the noble Lord, Lord Ilford, in thanking the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, for looking at this matter again and producing an Amendment which appears to my noble friend to be satisfactory.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, while thanking both noble Lords for welcoming the Amendment, perhaps I may also thank other noble Lords who have taken part in various stages of this Bill. The care and attention given to this Bill by your Lordships has been, I am sure, very beneficial. I hope that when the Bill returns to another place these Amendments will meet with approval and that the small but good amending Bill will pass into law without undue delay.
§ Then, Standing Order No. 41 having been dispensed with (pursuant to Resolution), Bill read 3a, with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.