HL Deb 28 July 1977 vol 386 cc1174-5

5 Clause 10, page 8, line 23, at end insert:— (2A) Within the period of five years beginning with the day on which this Act shall come into force, where the Board intend to exercise their powers tinder this section to work and get minerals by means of open-cast operations otherwise than in association with working and getting coal, the Board shall notify such organisations representative of the mineral industry as appear to the Board to be likely to have an interest in such operations, and shall consider any representations made by those organisations as a result of such notification; and the Secretary of State shall not give his approval under subsection (1) above unless he is satisfied that the Board have taken into account any such representations.".

The Commons disagreed to this Amendment for the following Reason:

6 Because it is unnecessary to impose on the Board a statutory obligation to consult organisations representative of the mineral industry.

Lord STRABOLGI

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth not insist on their Amendment No. 5 for the Reason numbered 6.

Moved, That this House doth not insist on their Amendment No. 5 for the Reason numbered 6.—(Lord Strabolgi.)

Lord SANDFORD

My Lords, this is, if I may say so, rather more adequately put. There is a disagreement between us, as there has been all along, as to the merit of enshrining these assurances in the Bill, and I could not put the case for doing that better than my noble friend Lord Drumalbyn. The fact that the Government have taken the positive step of moving these Amendments out—Amendments which serve only to do what I have just said—can now serve only to increase the very suspicions and anxieties which we and the industry have been feeling all the time, and which we on this side were at particular pains to allay. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Strabolgi, was at pains to allay them as well, but the means he chose for doing so were, in our view, quite inadequate. But, once again, I think the moment has come for us to how to the decision of another place. We do so with the small consolation that on the very day that the Lib-Lab pact was renewed, it was also broken in order to support us on this matter.

On Question, Motion agreed to.