§ 6Clause 8, page 5, line 10, at end insert ("; and in that regard he may apply any provision of Schedule 1 to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, as he thinks fit.").
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 6. Your Lordships will recall that this House agreed that the procedure for licensing venison dealers should be modelled as closely as possible upon the general licensing provisions to be enacted in the Civic Government (Scotland) Bill. That Bill is still before Parliament and one of its aims is to standardise as far as possible licensing systems in Scotland covering all subjects. It was not at that time appropriate to insert a specific reference in that Bill since the Civic Government (Scotland) Bill was still at an early stage. Now, considerable progress has been made to the Bill and this amendment inserts the reference required. If, by some unforeseen chance, the Civic Government (Scotland) Bill were to fail to reach the statute book, the words of this amendment would simply be ineffective and would not damage this Bill.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Campbell of Croy.)
§ Lord NorthfieldMy Lords, I have one question to ask, and if the Minister cannot answer it tonight perhaps he will be good enough to write to me. We are dealing with the question of licensing venison dealers and I think it important to have on the record somewhere, or in some publicity given to it, that the Minister should be asked for an assurance that the names of licensed dealers will be available to bona fide inquirers. This is an important matter. Some con— siderable check will be needed on whether the powers that can be used under this amendment are watched so that the right sort of people get the licences. I hope that we will at some point get a clear undertaking that there will be some form of register which will be open to public inspection showing the names of people who have got the licences.
§ Lord LyellMy Lords, I understand that this is a matter which is more complicated than I can go into in 30 seconds this evening. I hope that the noble Lord will agree that I accept his invitation to write to him.
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, at this stage I do not know the answer to the point Lord Northcliffe has raised. It might be still a matter for decision and for the eventual enactment of the Civic Government (Scotland) Bill. He has made his point, which is an important one. I, too, should be interested to know what is going to happen and what is intended.