HL Deb 25 July 1974 vol 353 cc1866-75

[References are to Bill 50 as first printed for the Commons]

[Nos. 1–49]

Clause 4, page 7, line 2, leave out from "water" to "a" in line 3, and insert "which covers any land above low-water mark of ordinary spring tides and is not water in".

Clause 4, page 7,line 4, leave out from "Act" to end of subsection.

Clause 11, page 15, line 21, at end insert "and to any other prescribed person".

Clause 11,page 16, line 2, at end insert "and to any other prescribed person".

Clause 11,page 16,line 20, leave out "the disposal authority and".

Clause 11,page 16,line 21, leave out "disagree" and insert "to which a proposal is referred by a disposal authority in pursuance of paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of this section requests the disposal authority not to proceed with the proposal or disagrees with the disposal authority".

Clause 11,page 16,line 23, leave out "sub section (3) of this section" and insert "that subsection".

Clause 12, page 17, line 43, at beginning insert "subject to subsection (3) of this section".

Clause 12,page 18, line 19, leave out from "cases" to "shall" in line 20 and insert "; and in any of those cases—

(a) the duty to arrange for the collection of the waste in question which is imposed on the collection authority by subsection (1)(a) of this section shall not arise until a person who controls the waste requests the authority to collect it; and

(b) the authority may recover a reasonable charge for the collection of the waste from the person who made the request in respect of it in pursuance of the preceding paragraph.

(3A) A person at whose request waste other than household waste is collected in pursuance of the preceding provisions of this section".

Clause 12,page 19, line 4, after "pipes", insert "and associated works".

Clause 12,line 7, after first "pipes", insert "or associated works".

leave out lines 10 to 13, and insert—

"(5A) Parts V and VI of Schedule 3 to the Water Act 1945 (which relate to the laying of mains and the breaking up of streets) shall apply in relation to pipes and associated works provided or to be provided in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection as those Parts apply in relation to water mains and pipes but as if—

  1. (a) sections 19(4) and 21 of that Schedule (which relate to the erection of street notices and the laying of service pipes) were omitted, and in section 22 of that Schedule the words "which they are authorised to lay" were omitted; and
  2. (b) for any reference to undertakers or limits of supply there were substituted respectively a reference to the authority in question and the area of the authority; and
  3. (c) for the reference to the special Act in section 25(4) of that Schedule there were substituted a reference to this subsection;
and the Pipe-lines Act 1962 shall not apply to pipes or associated works provided or to be provided in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection."

Clause 12,line 33, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—

"(b) for subsection (5A) there shall be substituted the following subsection:—

"(5A) Sections 2, 3, 4 and 41 of the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 (which relate to the maintenance etc. of public sewers and other works and the breaking open of streets etc.) shall apply in relation to pipes and associated works provided or to be provided in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection as those sections apply in relation to public sewers but as if—

  1. (a) the said section 2 conferred a power, and did not impose a duty, on a local authority to do the things mentioned in that section; and
  2. (b) in the said section 4, the words from "but, before any person" to the end were omitted;

and the Pipe-lines Act 1962 shall not apply to pipes and associated works provided or to be provided in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection"."

Clause 12,line 43, after "Crown", insert "but exclude waste as to which the Commissioners executing the Crown Estate Paving Act 1851 (which among other things relates to premises in the Regent's Park) make arrangements for its collection".

Clause 13. page 21, line 6, after "unless" insert ", in the case of a receptacle for commercial waste".

Clause 14, page 22, line 29, leave out from "be" to end of subsection and insert "dealt with under arrangements made by the collection authority for the purpose of enabling the waste to be used again or substances to be reclaimed from it".

Clause 14, page 22,line 36, after "for" insert "sorting or".

Clause 14,page 23, line 2. at end insert "and".

Clause 14,page 23,line 5, leave out from second "it" to end of subsection.

Clause 14,page 23,line 8. leave out "Subsection (5)" and insert "Subsections (5) and (5A)".

Clause 14,page 23,line 9, after "reference", insert "in paragraph (a) of the said subsection (5)".

Clause 14,page 23,line 13, after "authority" insert "or a collection authority".

Clause 14,page 23,line 27, at end insert —

"(6A) A collection authority and the relevant disposal authority may enter into an agreement for the making by either authority to the other of such payments as may be determined by or under the agreement in respect of waste collected by the collection authority in pursuance of section 12 of this Act, including, without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions of this subsection, an agreement for the making of payments to the collection authority in respect of such arrangements as are mentioned in subsection (2) of this section."

Clause 14,page 23,line 28, at beginning insert "Except as otherwise agreed in pursuance of the preceding subsection,".

Clause 14,page 23,line 30, leave out from "such" to end of paragraph and insert "sums as are needed to defray the reasonable cost to the disposal authority of disposing of commercial and industrial waste delivered to the disposal authority by the collection authority in pursuance of this section and".

Clause 14,page 23,line 44, after "arising", insert "in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection as to what cost is reasonable or".

Clause 14,page 24, line 4, after "(4)", insert "(6A)".

Clause 14,page 24,line 10, leave out from first "authority" to end of paragraph and insert "at a place specified in the directions (which must be in or within a reasonable distance from the collection authority's area) to the water authority nr to another person so specified;"

Clause 14,page 24,line 17, at beginning insert

"(8A) Any question arising in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection as to whether a place is within a reasonable distance from a collection authority's area shall, in default of agreement between the collection authority and the water authority in question, be determined by arbitration,".

Clause 14,page 24,line 17, leave out "this" and insert "that"

Clause 15, page 24, line 38, at end insert "and"

Clause 15, page 24, line 41, leave out from second "it" to end of subsection.

Clause 15,Page 25, line 1, leave out subsection (2) and insert —

"(2) Subsections (5) and (5A) of section 12 of this Act shall have effect in relation to a Scottish disposal authority as if the reference in paragraph (a) of the said subsection (5) to the collection of waste in pursuance of that section included the disposal of waste in pursuance of this section and the disposal of anything produced from waste belonging to the authority."

Clause 15,Page 25,line 37, leave out from "authority" to end of paragraph and insert

"at a place specified in the directions (which must be in or within a reasonable distance from the collection authority's area) to the regional council or another person so specified;"

Clause 15,Page 25,line 44, at beginning insert—

"(4A) Any question arising in pursuance of paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection as to whether a place is within a reasonable distance from a collection authority's area shall, in default of agreement between the collection authority and the regional council in question, be determined by arbitration,"

Clause 15,Page 25,line 45, leave out "this" and insert "that"

After Clause 19, insert the following new Clause

Reclamation of waste

"( ) 'Without prejudice to the powers of disposal authorities apart from this section, any disposal authority may—

  1. (a) do such things as the authority considers appropriate for the purpose of—
    1. (i) enabling waste belonging to the authority, or belonging to another person who requests the authority to deal with it in pursuance of this section, to be used again, or
    2. (ii) enabling substances to be reclaimed from such waste;
  2. (b) buy or otherwise acquire waste with a view to its being used again or to the reclamation of substances from it; and
  3. (c) use, sell or otherwise dispose of waste belonging to the authority or anything produced from such waste"

After the clause last inserted, insert the following new Clause

Production of heat and electricity from waste etc.

"(1) A disposal authority may, subject to subsections (2) and (3) of this section,—

  1. (a) use waste belonging to the authority for the purpose of producing from it heat or electricity or both;
  2. (b) establish and operate, within or outside its area, such generating stations and other installations as the authority thinks fit for the purpose aforesaid; and
  3. (c) where the authority operates an installation in which waste is usually used as the main fuel for the purpose of producing heat or electricity, then—
    1. (i) in the case of an installation for producing heat, use other fuel in addition to waste to produce the heat, and
    2. (ii) in the case of an installation for producing electricity, use other fuel to assist in burning the waste to produce the electricity,

and, in an emergency, use other fuel instead of waste to produce the heat or electricity; and a disposal authority may use, sell or otherwise dispose of any heat produced by the authority by virtue of this section.

(2) A disposal authority shall not be entitled to make any arrangements with a view to the production from waste of electricity for use otherwise than by the authority unless—

  1. (a) the authority has had consultations about the arrangements with the Central Electricity Generating Board and with any Electricity Board proposed to be specified in the arrangements in pursuance of paragraph (b) of the following subsection; and
  2. (b) the arrangements are approved by the Secretary of State and are in accordance with any conditions which he attaches to his approval.

In the application of this subsection to Scotland the reference to the Central Electricity Generating Board shall be omitted.

(3) Where a disposal authority produces electricity by virtue of this section the authority—

  1. (a) may use any of the electricity at the installation at which it was produced and on any premises occupied by the authority in connection with the installation, but shall not use any of it elsewhere;
  2. (b) may sell any of the electricity, on such terms as are specified in the relevant arrangements made in pursuance of the preceding subsection, to any Electricity Board (within the meaning of the Electricity Act 1947) which is so specified, but shall not sell or otherwise dispose of any of it to any other person;

and it shall be the duty of any Electricity Board so specified to buy electricity from the authority in accordance with the said arrangements.

(4) Subsection (5) of section 12 of this Act (except paragraph (b) of that subsection) and subsection (5A) of that section (except so much of it as relates to the Pipe-lines Act 1962) shall have effect in relation to a disposal authority as if the reference in the said subsection (5) to the collection of waste in pursuance of that section included the conveying of heat produced by the authority by virtue of this section and of air, steam and water heated by such heat.

(5) It shall be the duty of a disposal authority by which an installation for producing heat is operated in pursuance of this section in any year to furnish to the Secretary of State, as soon as practicable after the end of that year, such particulars relating to the installation and heat produced at it as are prescribed.

(6) Nothing in this section (except the restrictions imposed by subsections (2) and (3) shall be construed as prejudicing any power exercisable by a disposal authority apart from this section '."

Clause 20, page 30, line 29, after "land" insert "and may enter into an agreement with such a person for the payment by him of charges in respect of the cleaning".

Clause 20, page 30,line 33, leave out "this section" and insert—

"the preceding provisions of this section and in section (Prohibition of parking to facilitate street cleaning) of this Act—

"highway" means highway maintainable at the public expense within the meaning of the Highways Act 1959;"

Clause 20, page 30,line 40, at end insert:

"in this section and in section (Prohibition of parking to facilitate street cleaning) of this Act".

Clause 20, page 30,line 41, leave out 'in subsection (1)'.

After Clause 20 insert the following new Clause

Prohibition of parking to facilitate street cleaning

"'(1) Where in the case of any part of a highway (hereafter in this section referred to as "the relevant area") the highway authority for the relevant area or the local authority in whose area the relevant area is situated considers that, in order to facilitate the cleaning of the relevant area on a particular day (hereafter in this section referred to as "the relevant day"), it is appropriate to prohibit the parking of vehicles in the relevant area during certain hours of the relevant day, the authority may give notice in accordance with the following provisions of this section prohibiting such parking.

(2) Such a notice must specify the relevant area, the relevant day and the hours in question and must be in such form and contain such other information as are prescribed; and subject to paragraphs (a) and (b) of the following subsection a copy of the notice must—

  1. (a) be served in accordance with regulations on the occupier of any premises adjoining the relevant area and on any prescribed person; and
  2. (b) be conspicuously displayed in accordance with regulations at places in the relevant area.

(3) Regulations may provide—

  1. (a) that such a notice which is served in a prescribed manner in respect of any premises shall be treated for the purposes of this section as served on the occupier of the premises;
  2. (b) that a failure to serve or display a notice as required by virtue of this section apart from the regulations shall in prescribed circumstances be disregarded for the purposes of this section; and
  3. (c) for the covering up of traffic signs and parking meters on the relevant day or any part of it, but without prejudice to the effect of the notice in question if regulations made in pursuance of this paragraph are not observed.

(4) Regulations may also provide that sections 20, 52 and 53 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 (which among- other things provide for the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles left on roads in contravention of a statutory prohibition) shall have effect, in relation to any vehicle which is or was standing on any part of a highway while parking on that part is or was prohibited by virtue of this section, with such modifications as are prescribed.

(5) If, either before or during the hours on the relevant day which are specified in a notice given by an authority as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, the authority displays such further notices in the relevant area and takes such other steps (if any) as are prescribed, the prohibition on parking attributable to the notice so given shall not come into force or, if it is already in force, shall cease to be in force.

(6) It shall be the duty of the highway authority for any part of a highway and of the local authority in whose area the part is situated to co-operate with each other in performing the functions conferred on them by virtue of this section; and where a highway authority or a local authority gives notice as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section in respect of any part of a highway for which it is the highway authority or, as the case may be, which is within its area, any other authority which is the highway authority for that part or which is the local authority within whose area that part is situated shall, with the approval of the authority which gave the notice, be entitled to act in pursuance of this section as if the other authority had given similar notice.

(7) Where any parking in the relevant area is, by virtue of a notice given as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, prohibited during specified hours on the relevant day, no right of action shall accrue to any person by reason of the fact that all or some of the cleaning of the relevant area which the highway authority or, as the case may be, the local authority proposes to do or has done during those hours is not cleaning which that authority has or had power to do if the other of those authorities has or had power to do it.

(8) Any reference in the preceding provisions of this section to a part of a highway includes any such part on which the parking of vehicles is, apart from this section, authorised by virtue of any enactment whether on payment or free of charge; and where the parking of vehicles on such a part is prohibited by virtue of this section a person shall not be entitled to recover any sum paid by him in respect of the parking of a vehicle there."

After Clause 22 insert the following new Clause

Outfall pipes for sewage disposal works

"( ) '(1) Parts V and VI of Schedule 3 to the Water Act 1945 (which relate to the laying of mains and the breaking up of streets) shall apply in relation to outfall pipes and associated works which are provided or to be provided by a water authority for sewage disposal works belonging to the authority as those Parts apply in relation to water mains and pipes but as if in those Parts there were made the modifications specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 12 (5A) of this Act.

(2) This section does not apply to Scotland'."

After Clause 23 insert the following new Clause

Supplementary provisions relating to pipes

( ) (1) Where an authority provides pipes in pursuance of section 12(5), 14(5) or 15(2) of this Act or subsection (4) of section (Production of heat and electricity from waste etc.) or section (Outfall pipes for sewage disposal works) of this Act, it shall be the duty of the authority—

  1. (a) except where the authority is a collection authority and the pipes are situated in its area, to send to the collection authority in whose area the pipes are siutated a map in the prescribed form showing the location of the pipes; and
  2. (b) where the authority is a collection authority and the pipes are situated in its area, to prepare such a map;

and it shall be the duty of an authority by which a map is received in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection or is prepared in pursuance of paragraph (b) of this subsection to secure that a copy of the map is available at its principal offices for inspection by the public free of charge at all reasonable hours.

In the application of this subsection to Scotland, the words "the authority is a collection authority and" in paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be omitted.

(2) Section 25 of the Public Health Act 1936 (under which the erection of buildings over a sewer or drain may be prevented or controlled by a local authority or, on appeal, by a magistrates' court) shall have effect as if references to a drain included any pipe provided as mentioned in the preceding subsection and as if the reference to the map of sewers required by that Act to be kept deposited at the offices of an authority included any map required by the preceding subsection to be kept available at the offices of the authority.

(3) Section 21 of the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 (under which the erection of buildings over a sewer vested in a local authority may be prevented or controlled by the authority or, on appeal, by the sheriff) shall have effect as if the reference to a sewer vested in a local authority included any pipe provided as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) References to pipes in the preceding provisions of this section include associated works'."

Clause 25, page 34, line 7, at end insert—

""associated works", in relation to pipes, means any of the following connected with the pipes, namely, any valve, filter, stockcock, pump, inspection chamber and manhole and such other works as are prescribed;"

Clause 25, page 34,line 34, at end insert "(disregarding the amendment made by section 13(2) of the Caravan Sites Act 1968)"

Clause 25,page 36, line 18, at end insert:

"In this subsection "sewage" includes matter in or from a privy within the meaning of section 12(4) of this Act."

line 20, leave out "references to waste in this part of this Act do not include" and insert "nothing in this part of this Act applies to".

LORD GARNSWORTHY

My Lords, it is my pleasure to bring this measure back to this House after its passage through another place. At its earlier stages, your Lordships devoted a great deal of time and trouble to close examination of the Bill, so the House may well feel it unnecessary to-day to go into too much detail. A considerable number of further Amendments have been made in another place, but many of these Amendments reflect earlier discussions and promises given in this House, and I venture to think that almost all of them will immediately commend themselves to your Lordships. Against this background I propose to speak very briefly to the Commons Amendments, in moving that this House do agree with the said Amendments. If convenient to the House, I shall speak briefly to substantial groups of Amendments at the same time. But if any noble Lord wishes to raise any question on any of the Amendments, I shall be happy to try to explain them in more detail.

Accordingly, my Lords, I start by moving that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 1 to 49. I would draw attention particularly to the two new clauses conferring powers on local authorities to undertake reclamation of wastes, and to generate heat or electricity from the burning of wastes. These clauses fulfil undertakings given in this House and will, I am sure, be welcome to many noble Lords who take an interest in reclamation and utilisation of wastes. There are also related Amendments and two clauses concerned with the laying of pipes for the transportation of waste, sludge and heat. Another new clause in Part I that may be of interest is the one giving new powers to the street cleaning authorities to get cars removed from streets on the days when cleaning is to take place. It is increasingly difficult for local authorities to carry out cleaning properly when streets are crowded with cars. This power will enable them to ask owners to move their cars and, if necessary, to move them while the cleaning takes place.

Apart from these new clauses, the other Amendments to Part I are mainly concerned with minor clarifications and improvements of the new procedures. The definition of "land" in Clause 4 is improved. The procedure for disposal authorities' own disposal sites is sharpened, provisions about charging are clarified, and various definitions—including the definition of sewage—are improved. My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 1 to 49.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Garnsworthy..)

On Question, Motion agreed to.