HL Deb 26 June 1975 vol 361 cc1567-9

3.30 p.m.

The LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee (on Recommitment) on this Bill.

Moved, that the House do now resolve itself into Committee (on Recommitment)—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee (on Recommitment) accordingly.

[The EARL OF LISTOWEL in the Chair.]

The CHAIRMAN of COMMITTEES (The Earl of Listowel)

This Bill has been amended by the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills. There are further Amendments to be moved in Committee this afternoon and I will therefore go through the Bill in the usual way.

Clauses 1 to 14 agreed to.

Clause 15 [Power of water authority to use gratings etc. to limit movements of salmon and trout]:

The LORD CHANCELLOR moved Amendment No. 1: Page 11, line 1, leave out ("made by the water authority").

The noble and learned Lord said: This highly technical Amendment deletes an unnecessary phrase from Clause 15(2)(b). Clause 15(2) creates a number of offences. They all relate to gratings placed in water channels by water authorities. The power of water authorities to place such gratings is contained in Clause 15(1). The offence under Clause 15(2)(b) consists of removing a grating or part of a grating—I suppose in the hope that the salmon or trout might be diverted to some private waterway. But the paragraph provides that this shall not be an offence during any period of the year during which under a by-law made by the water authority gratings need not be maintained".

By virtue of paragraph 14 of Schedule 3, all by-laws under the Bill, with one exception, are made by water authorities. The exception is that by-laws for the purposes of Schedule 1 (as to close seasons and close times for fishing) may be made by the Minister of Agriculture if the water authority are in default. But the by-laws mentioned in Clause 15(2)(b) are made by virtue of paragraph 27 of Schedule 3. Under this paragraph, bylaws may be made for determining for the purposes of this Act the period of the year during which gratings need not he maintained". Since these by-laws must in all cases be made by the water authority, and not by the Minister, the words, made by the water authorty", which the Amendment proposes to delete, are unnecessary. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 15, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 16 to 40 agreed to.

Clause 41 [Interpretation]:

The LORD CHANCELLOR moved Amendment No. 2: Page 27, line 4, leave out from ("1963") to end of line 5.

The noble and learned Lord said: This again is another piece of technical perfectionism. Clause 41 is the interpretation clause. This Amendment appears in the definition of "inland water". That definition reads as follows: ' inland water' has the same meaning as in the Water Resources Act 1963 and any reference in this Act to an inland water includes references to part of an inland water. The definition is reproduced from Section 14(1) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1972. It refers to the Water Resources Act because that Act provides a basic code, and the definition in it is well known to those concerned with the administration of fisheries. But the Water Resources Act definition itself contains the words which the Amendment proposes should be omitted from the Bill. There is no need to set them out in Clause 41, simply because the whole of the 1963 definition is attracted for purposes of the Bill. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 41, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clauses and Schedules agreed to.

House resumed: Bill reported with further Amendments.