§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds the Home Office considered it necessary to grant power to a local authority on safety aspects of a canal within their area when similar powers were already available to the British Waterways Board.]
THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, R.A.F. (LORD WINTER-BOTTOM)My Lords, the powers of the British Waterways Board are different from those that may be conferred on a local authority. As the local authority powers are concerned with the safety of boats let for hire or carrying passengers for hire, my right honourable friend normally considers it right to accede to an application for such powers to be conferred.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether he is saying that the British Waterways Board, under their licence for pleasure craft, cover no aspect of safety regulations, and, indeed could not, if they wished to?
§ LORD WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, the powers of the British Waterways Board are concerned primarily with raising revenue to pay for services and facilities provided by the Board. I understand that the only penalty that the British Waterways Board can inflict is to remove the boats from the water. They have an entirely different function.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that the British Waterways Board could issue a condition in their licence covering safety precautions? Can the noble Lord say how many local authorities under this old 1907 Act have applied to the Home Office for the power?
§ LORD WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I am afraid that I cannot answer that question in detail, but I will write to the noble Earl.