COMMONS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 26 July 1977)

§ The LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 2. This reduces the figure in paragraph (a) of Clause 18 from £30 to £10, but otherwise leaves the paragraph as drawn. Your Lordships will remember that we considered this both in Committee and on Report. I then explained that, in maintaining a register of county court judgment debts of £10 and upwards, the Government were providing a much greater service to the commercial community than had ever been contemplated in the past, and I suggested that it would be reasonable, in the interests of saving public service manpower, to make at any rate a modest increase in the figure of £10. But in deference to the views expressed in Committee, I moved an Amendment reducing my proposed new figure of £50 to £30, and the noble Viscount, Lord Colville of Culross, described that as a gift horse which he did not propose to look in the mouth, although he expressed the hope that the door was still open to further discussion. The metaphors became a little complicated, but the meaning remained clear. The matter was further discussed in the other place and, in the light of that further discussion, the Government came to the view that the whole matter admitted of further consideration in the light of the arguments put forward for retaining the status quo, and the effect of the Amendment is to achieve just that.

870 However, I should make it clear that the Government have not totally changed their mind on this issue, and I still venture to doubt whether it is a proper use of manpower to register these very small judgment debts. But I think that the right thing to do is to review the matter again, and under the terms of the clause I shall retain the power to increase the figure by Statutory Instrument, if at some future date it seems expedient to so do. However, I repeat the assurances given in another place that I would not do this without further consultation, and any order that was made would be subject to Parliamentary control under the Negative Resolution procedure. For these reasons, I advise and invite the House to accept the Commons Amendment on this point. I beg to move.

Viscount COLVILLE of CULROSS

My Lords, I am sorry that I appear so greatly to have mixed my metaphors. I did not appreciate that it was all in the same sentence as the noble and learned Lord has attributed to me. This Amendment represents the solution that I would have wished: indeed, at one stage I suggested something very similar. It keeps the situation as it is for the moment but, as the noble and learned Lord has said, it gives him the opportunity quite flexibly to take into account what the people who use the register of county court judgments have to say. If the noble and learned Lord—or, indeed, his successor—comes to the conclusion later on that there is room for change without doing any harm, it will be a perfectly simple matter to carry out that change; there will be no further need to come with substantive legislation to this House. Therefore I very much welcome the Amendment, and I am glad that the further discussions in another place have led to this change.