EARL ST. ALDWYNMy Lords, I have it in command from Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to acquaint the House that they, having been informed of the purport of the Fire Precautions Bill, have consented to place their interest, so far as they are concerned on behalf of the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill.
§ LORD WINDLESHAMMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 3a.—(Lord Windlesham.)
§ LORD LEATHERLANDMy Lords, am I in order in uttering two or three sentences in regard to this admirable Bill? I do so only because many years ago I was entrusted with the responsibility of forming one of the biggest fire brigades in the country and have long had an interest in that form of local government service. This is a good Bill, but it will take a period of years before it comes into full operation. I am wondering whether the operation cannot be speeded up. One way in which this could be done is by utilising the services of retired firemen and fire officers to undertake these fire prevention duties. It is known that these officers and firemen retire from active tire fighting work at an early age, and it is also known that they are expert in the duties that would fall to them if their services were utilised under this Bill. I wish the Bill success.
§ LORD BURNTWOODMy Lords, I hesitate to take up the time of the House, but I should like to pay tribute to the noble Lord who took this Bill through Second Reading and who showed great courtesy in making a special statement about my concern that the greatest diligence and application of the new law must be applied to the problem of fire risk in mental hospitals. I do not think that too much consideration can be given to this problem, where the behaviour of patients is quite unpredictable and the fire risk accordingly very high.
§ LORD WINDLESHAMMy Lords, I moved the Third Reading formally because we had quite a long debate on this Bill on Report stage on Tuesday night, including discussion on one or two major issues of policy. I explained that we were suggesting to noble Lords that the Third Reading should be taken to-day in order to lose the minimum amount of time before the Bill went back, with the Amendments, to the House of Commons. I should certainly like to take into account the very helpful suggestion made by the noble Lord, Lord Leatherland, and to draw it to the attention of my right honourable friend. I should also like 533 to thank the noble Lord, Lord Burnt-wood, for what he said about mental hospitals.
§ On Question, Bill read 3a, with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.