ARCHITECTS REGISTRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL (Hansard, 8 July 1969)

§ LORD LLEWELYN-DAVIES
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be read a second time. It is needed to amend the Architects' Registration Act 1931 as amended in 1934. It is needed because 1044 the provisions of that Act are now out of date in one important aspect. The original Act provided that 50 per cent. of fees received by the Architects' Registration Council should be devoted to the provision of scholarships and maintenance grants for the assistance of students of architecture; and in the early years of the operation of this scheme they were so used. But with the passage of the Education Act 1944 it became possible for students to obtain maintenance grants and scholarships from public sources, and as a result the calls on the funds of the Architects' Registration Council within the terms of the Act became very few. As a result, substantial sums have accumulated in this fund which cannot be spent, although the Architects' Registration Council make every attempt to find appropriate cases on which to spend it.
The Bill now before your Lordships proposes two changes in the original Act. The first of these would widen the scope of the purposes to which this fund could be applied. It would widen it beyond merely providing for grants and scholarships for students to its use for the general purposes of the support of architectural education and research. It would not prevent the use of the fund where occasion arises—and anomalous cases do occasionally arise—to support students, but it would enable it to be used for a much broader contribution to the development of architectural education.
The second point in the Bill is to enable the Architects' Registration Council to vary from time to time the proportion of its income fees devoted to these educational purposes. In doing so, it would, of course, have to receive the approval of the Privy Council. The Bill is before your Lordships with the approval of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architects' Registration Council, and the Privy Council; and I commend the measure to your Lordships for favourable consideration.

§ LORD BELSTEAD
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Llewelyn-Davies, with his expert knowledge has given a concise description of this Bill, which received unanimous support in another place. In 1045 this House we have come to appreciate the incisive thought of the noble Baroness, Lady Llewelyn-Davies, and I am sure that when she replies the noble Baroness will successfully avoid the danger to which Gilbert and Sullivan's Gondoliers succumbed when they sang, Replying, we sing as one individual. The noble Lord has explained the difficulties which the Architects' Registration Council have been experiencing because the 1931 Act required at least one-half of the Council's annual fees to be devoted to student scholarships and to grants. Clause 1(2)(b) of the Bill will give the Council discretion over its fee income, with continuing surveillance by the Privy Council, and I am sure the noble Lord has satisfied the House that architectural education need in no way suffer. On the contrary, Clause 1(4) will widen the scope for the Council's grants which will be allowed, as the noble Lord has explained to us, not only to students but in future to research and to the arts and sciences connected with architecture. Surely this is welcome news: for although I believe it is a fact that this country is in no way short of architects, none the less it is perhaps possible that the profession increasingly needs the help of people with other skills to master the complex problems associated with construction to-day.
To take one example, my Lords, there are surely social problems increasingly connected with construction. Only a few moments ago the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, mentioned the problem of loneliness in multi-storey blocks. I have often wondered whether sufficient research has been undertaken, or the results disseminated, into the effects of layout in the planning of large housing estates. Are people happier living in long roads or in small closes? Is it right to segregate the old from the young? This Bill will allow grants to such people as sociologists, as well as to those whose work lies directly within the construction industry. Under this Bill the Architects' Registration Council can make the fullest use of its income from fees, and I very much hope that the House will agree to give the Bill a Second Reading.

§ BARONESS LLEWELYN-DAVIES OF HASTOE
My Lords, the Government are happy to give a welcome to this Bill, 1046 and I should like to thank my noble friend and relative for introducing it, and perhaps specially for doing so in such an admirably brief speech. I should also like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, for the kind words he said, and indeed to assure him that noble friends, and perhaps particularly noble relatives, do not always speak with one voice.
My Lords, this is a non-contentious, non-political Bill which corrects an anomaly that has developed over the years. It will enable the Architects' Registration Council to use its funds in ways which are suitable for present-day conditions. I am sure there will be general agreement in the House that no useful purpose could be served by allowing money to rest unusable because of an out-dated provision. It is important to realise that the Bill would retain the Council's powers to support needy architectural students. Noble Lords will know that the Council has done spendid work in this sphere in the past. There will always be cases of special hardship, and I think it right that the Council should continue this work, but it is equally sensible that it should have power to finance education and research and to support work which will be of benefit to the architectural profession as a whole. My Lords, I am very glad to support this Bill and also that your Lordships have given it such a warm welcome.

§ LORD LLEWELYN-DAVIES
My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Belstead, and particularly to say how very much I agree with the point he made about the need for many other professions, skills and branches of knowledge to be brought to bear on the problems of housing and architecture; and I should like to thank my noble relative for agreeing with me on this occasion.