HL Deb 26 April 1984 vol 451 cc201-3

7.3 p.m.

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on Re-commitment 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 LORD AYLESTONE in the Chair.] Clauses 1 to 54 agreed to.

Clause 55 [Commencement, transitional provisions and savings]:

The Lord Chancellor moved Amendment No. 1: Page 34, line 32, leave out ("subsection (2) below,") and insert ("subsections (1A) and (2) below, the foregoing provisions of)

The noble and learned Lord said: I should like to speak to Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 together. Amendment No. 2: Page 34, line 35, at end insert— ("(1A) The following provisions of this Act, namely—

  1. (a) section 49, and
  2. (b) section 54(2) and Part I of Schedule 6 so far as they repeal section 29 of the Dentists Act 1983,
shall come into force at the end of the period of one month beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.") All these amendments have the approval of my noble and learned friend the Chairman of the Consolidation Bills Joint Committee. The two amendments to which I am now speaking are basically commencement provisions and I shall explain them very shortly. Clause 49 of the Bill enables an Order in Council to be made repealing or amending provisions of the Bill in consequence of, or in connection with, the termination of the 1927 Agreement with the Republic of Ireland with respect to the registration and control of dentists; and at present the clause is due to come into force on 1st October this year.

The purpose of these amendments is to allow Clause 49 to come into force one month after Royal Assent so that an Order in Council can, if necessary, be made under the clause before 1st October, coming into force shortly thereafter. A further effect of the first amendment is to bring ancillary provisions contained in Clauses 55 and 56 and Schedule 7 into force on Royal Assent. As I told the Committee, these two amendments have the approval of the Chairman of the Joint Committee.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

The Lord Chancellor

I beg to move Amendment No. 2.

[Printed above. ]

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Clause 55, as amended agreed to.

Clause 56 agreed to.

Schedules 1 to 6 agreed to.

Schedule 7. [Transitional provisions and savings]:

The Lord Chancellor moved Amendment No. 3: Page 53, leave out lines 14 to 18 and insert— ("3.—(1) Nothing in the repeals made by this Act shall affect the continued registration in the register of any person who was duly registered in it immediately before the commencement of this Act; and where any such person was so registered under, or in pursuance of a direction under, any provision of the Dentists Act 1957 his registration shall have effect as if effected under, or in pursuance of a direction under, the corresponding provision of the Act. (2) Without prejudice to sub-paragraph (1) above, in section 35 of this Act—

  1. (a) subsection (3) extends to a person who was registered under section 2A of that Act when he was subject to a disqualifying decision within the meaning of section 35, and
  2. (b) subsection (5) extends to a person whose registration was effected under the said section 2A.").

The noble and learned Lord said: This amendment also has the approval of the Chairman of the Joint Committee. It is a transitional and savings provision. The amendment replaces the existing savings provision contained in paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to the Bill, which relates to existing registrations in the dentists' register. The paragraph is at present too narrowly drawn. Furthermore, a difficulty arises in connection with the Bill's reliance at present on the general law, in the form of Section 17(2)(b), of the Interpretation Act 1978. Sub-paragraph (1) of the new paragraph 3, which is framed as a comprehensive transitional and savings provision relating to existing registrations in the dentists' register, is designed to deal with both these difficulties.

The purpose of sub-paragraph (2) of the new paragraph 3 is to make it clear that the references in subsections (3) and (5) of Clause 35 to a person registered under Clause 15(1)(b)—qualification in another member state—are to operate in relation to a person whose registration was originally effected under the corresponding provision of the 1957 Act; namely, Section 2A. I beg to move.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes

I rise to support this amendment, not because I have any doubt about its acceptability to the Committee but because this seems to be the appropriate moment to record on behalf of the dental profession how pleased we are that this Consolidation Bill is making such rapid progress and how great a help it will be both to the General Dental Council, which at present is working under the two previous Acts and finding that a very complex and arduous job, and also to the members of the profession who will themselves be able to understand this new Act.

In supporting the amendment I must say that had not the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor explained it so clearly I would not have understood the technical difference between it and the clause which it is replacing. But having listened to his explanation I am suitably impressed and I formally support the amendment.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

The Lord Chancellor moved Amendment No. 4:

Page 54, line 9, at end insert—

("Rules of procedure

Any rules made by the Council before the commencement of this Act under section 27 of the Dentists Act 1957 and expressed to come into force at or after that commencement shall have effect as if made under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to this Act, and sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph shall apply to any such rules accordingly.").

The noble and learned Lord said: This provision is also transitional. As a result of the various changes made by the Dentists Act 1983 in relation to disciplinary proceedings affecting registered dentists, new rules of procedure will be required to be in force on 1st October when these changes take effect under the Bill. Under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Bill, the procedure involved in bringing such rules into operation is both complex and time-consuming, and the time available between Royal Assent and 1st October would not be sufficient for this procedure to be carried out in its entirety under the provisions of the Bill. The purpose of the transitional provision inserted by this amendment is to make clear that this procedure can be initiated under the existing law and then continued after Royal Assent under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Bill. I beg to move.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Schedule 7, as amended, agreed to.

House resumed: Bill reported with the amendments.