§ 3.35 p.m.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD STONHAM)My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Stonham.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly.
§ [The LORD MERTHYR in the Chair.]
§ Clauses 1 to 6 agreed to.
§ Clause 7 [Increase in membership of the National Coal Board]:
§ On Question, Whether Clause 7 shall stand part of the Bill?
§ LORD STONHAMI seek the agreement of your Lordships that this clause should not stand part of the Bill. It will be within your Lordships' recollection that on Second Reading I indicated that it was the Government's intention to seek the deletion of this clause. The clause 1258 as it stands provides for the appointment of five additional members to the Board. When the Bill was framed the Government's thinking then was that the need arose because the Board had shortened, as it were, their internal lines of communication by eliminating their divisional staff and concentrating coal production into 17 areas with direct responsibility to the Board. This provided national groupings of collieries into areas of convenient size for efficient management, but it did not produce a regional entity for Scotland, Wales and parts of England where regional co-ordination is necessary, and it is fast developing in other fields.
The primary role, therefore, of the additional members was to give the Board the means and the capacity to deal with regional problems without losing the advantage of the more direct management structure now in operation. My right honourable friend, having further considered the matter, and particularly the representations which have been made in Parliament during the various stages of the Bill, is now satisfied that his objective can be achieved without the appointment of additional members of the Board. Therefore this clause is no longer necessary.
§ Clause 7 disagreed to.
§ Clause 8 [Supplemental]:
§ LORD STONHAMThis Amendment is consequential on the deletion of Clause 7. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 4, line 41, leave out ("enactments") and insert ("provisions of the 1965 Act").(Lord Stonham.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 8, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clause agreed to.
§ Schedule [Consequential Amendments]:
§ LORD STONHAMThe omission of these two paragraphs is entirely consequential on the deletion of Clause 7. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 6, leave out lines 2 to 10 and insert ("CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO 1965 ACT").—(Lord Stonham.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
1259§ Schedule, as amended, agreed to.
§ LORD STONHAMThis Amendment deletes from the Title the words "to authorise the appointment of additional members to the National Coal Board", which are of course now no longer needed. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
In the Title, line 11, leave out from ("State") to ("and") in line 13.—(Lord Stonham.)
§ Title, as amended, agreed to.
§ 3.40 p.m.
§ House resumed: Bill reported, with Amendments.
§ Then, Standing Order No. 41 having been suspended (pursuant to Resolution):
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I beg to move that this Report be now received.
§ Moved, That the Report be now received.—(Lord Stonham.)
1260§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ Bill read 3a with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.