§ [No. 24]
§
Clause 20, page 17, line 15, leave out subsection (5) and insert—
(5) This Part of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding any enactment passed before
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this Act and preventing or avoiding the attachment or diversion of sums due to a person in respect of service under the Crown, whether by way of remuneration, pension or otherwise.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 24. The object of this Amendment is to ensure that the provisions of Part II of the Bill override any statutory prohibition against attaching the earnings of particular classes of Crown servants. At present, Clause 20(5) deals only with Section 203(2) of the Army Act 1955 and the corresponding section of the Air Force Act, and it provides that these sections which avoid any assignment of or charge on a Serviceman's pension, among other things, shall not apply to the making or variation of an attachment of earnings order. Recently it has been discovered that Section 2(2) of the Customs and Excise Act 1952 contains a similar prohibition against the assignment or charging of the remuneration of an officer of Customs and Excise "save as expressly provided by or under any enactment".
It is doubtful whether any provision in the Bill can be regarded as expressly overriding this prohibition. There may also be other statutory provisions not yet brought to light which contain similar exemptions for the pay of certain classes of Crown servants. In order to ensure that they are all overridden by Part II of the Bill, the Amendment substitutes for Clause 20(5) a new subsection providing that Part II shall have effect notwithstanding any earlier enactment preventing or avoiding the attachment or diversion of sums due to a person in respect of service under the Crown.
VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSSMy Lords, all I would say in regard to this Amendment is that it speaks volumes for the efficiency of the cross-referencing system of the Parliamentary Draftsman's Office. I am sorry there should have been an admission that there may be other references which have been missed. It seems to me, however, that there has been great vigilance in spotting this one; and of course this Amendment must be a necessary result of the discovery of this provision in the Customs and Excise Act.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.