§ 3.27 p.m.
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (LORD KENNET)My Lords, I beg leave to move that this Bill be now read a second time. This Bill and the following Bill are to confirm Provisional Orders made under 206 Section 303 of the Public Health Act 1875. That provision enables the Minister of Housing and Local Government, at the request of local authorities or certain other statutory bodies and with the approval of Parliament, to repeal or amend Local Acts and Orders which relate to the same subject matters as the 1875 Act. In all these cases there have been local advertisement. The Cambridge Order was advertised, both locally and nationally, and a local inquiry was held: no objection was raised.
The Cambridge Order has two purposes. Firstly, it will allow the local authority to alter from time to time rents and charges to stall-holders at the Midsummer Fair. This procedure for altering charges (based on that laid down in the Food and Drugs Act 1955) will enable the corporation to make alterations from time to time, with the approval of the Minister, without going to the trouble and expense of promoting a Private Bill on each occasion. The Order will also change the days and hours on which the Fair may be held. The change in hours is of little significance: it will enable the fair to be opened at 2.30 p.m. on the first day instead of at noon. The change in days is mainly to ensure that the period during which the Fair is open will include a Friday evening and Saturday, when most people can attend. At present, and for the last 750 years, the Fair has had to be held, under a Charter of 1211, from June 22 to June 25. This includes a Friday night and Saturday morning only four years out of every seven.
The Reading Order also provides for the variation of market charges in the same way as the Cambridge Order. The Walsall Order removes restrictions on the use of land, formerly the site of a pig market. There has been no pig market on this site for over sixty years and the land is now needed in connection with the redevelopment of the central area. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Lord Kennet.)
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to the Committee on Unopposed Bills.