§ 8.32 p.m.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNMy Lords, I beg to move that this Report be now received.
§ Moved, That the Report be now received.—(Lord Druinallyyn.)
§ Clause 21 [Savings and Transitional Provisions]:
§
LORD DRUMALBYN moved Amendment No. 1:
Page 19, line 8, at end insert ("on that date became an employee of the Council; or
(b) at any time after 31st March 1969 (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) was or is taken into the employment of the Council to undertake research in astrophysics at that laboratory.")
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, the purpose of this Amendment is to implement an undertaking that I gave on the Committee stage. It should not be taken as in any way introducing a new principle. The basic principle is clearly that staff of one employer in the public sector are not normally covered for superannuation purposes in the scheme of another employer. This principle is departed from in cases where employees are compulsorily transferred with their work, and it is felt justifiable in such circumstances to provide for continuation of the pension terms enjoyed with the previous employer. But such special treatment should be confined to the staff affected. These are the principles on which successive Governments have worked.
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§
At the same time, it is recognised that particular circumstances may require special legislative treatment, as in the case of the Laboratories transferred to the Science Research Council in 1965. In that case the Science Research Council was empowered by the Science and Technology Act 1965 to allow new recruits to join the A.E.A. pension scheme as well as to permit the A.E.A. employees transferred with the laboratories to remain in the A.E.A. pension scheme. As the noble Lord, Lord Snow, said, the reason for giving the Science Research Council this power was,
that the close proximity and long association of the Rutherford Laboratory with Harwell and the Atomic Energy Authority creates special circumstances, and that there might be recruiting and other psychological difficulties'.—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 9/3/65; col. 24.]
At the same time, the noble Lord made it clear that the Government did not intend that the power should be used at Daresbury.
§ As I said at the Committee stage the Government have accepted the argument that the Bill should not prejudice any further consideration of the question whether in fact the A.E.A. pension scheme should be offered to new recruits at Culham. The Amendment itself implies no judgment on the merits of the question. At the same time, I should make it clear that the Government have no present intention that advantage should be taken of the enabling power provided by this Amendment.
§
When moving this Amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Diamond, the noble Lord, Lord Delacourt-Smith, said that his noble friend's Amendment had this as its purpose and effect:
to leave the door open for this matter to be determined by the Science Research Council in consultation with the appropriate trade unions."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 4/2/71; cot. 1463.]
Perhaps he himself would wish to add that the exercise of that power would have to be approved by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Minister for the Civil Service, in accordance with the terms of the Science Research Council's Charter.
§ There are two reasons for preferring an Amendment in this form rather than the form of the noble Lord's Amendment in Committee. First of all, it is not so 348 wide as that put down by the noble Lord, Lord Diamond, and moved by the noble Lord, Lord Delacourt-Smith, in Committee. The Amendment now before your Lordships refers only to people taken into employment to work on astrophysics at Culham and not at any Science Research Council establishment. It is in respect of the staff at Culham that the case for an Amendment to the Bill has been argued and accepted, and it is therefore right to restrict the Amendment in this way. The only other reason is that the drafting is more in accord with the existing structure of the subsection. I beg to move.
§ LORD DIAMONDMy Lords, I shall not keep your Lordships long at this late hour. I just wish to say how grateful I am to the noble Lord for having faithfully carried out the commitment he undertook at the earlier stage of the Bill. He has met the essential point and he has carefully protected the Government from anything beyond that; and that is the main point on which my Amendment was argued. I am grateful to the noble Lord.
§ LORD DRUMALBYNAmendment No. 2 is a consequential Amendment. I beg to move.
§ Amendment moved—
§ Page 19, line 9, leave out paragraph (b).—(Lord Drumalbyn.)
§ MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDERS (MELTON MOW-BRAY AND SHEFFIELD) BILL.
§ Reported without amendment, and recommitted to a Committee of the Whole House.
§ SOUTHAMPTON CORPORATION BILL [H.L.]
§ Reported, with Amendments.
§ MERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR BOARD BILL [H.L.]
§ Commons Amendments considered, and agreed to.
§ House adjourned at twenty-three minutes before nine o'clock.