Somerset House Bill [H.L.] (Hansard, 26 January 1984)

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Bellwin, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time.

§ Baroness Birk
My Lords, this Bill has, on the whole, gone through very smoothly, and I should like to thank the Minister and the officials of the Department of the Environment, who have all been extremely helpful. The main point with which I was concerned was the length of lease to the Courtauld Institute through London University. The answer given by the Minister in Committee that 100 years is in mind (col. 673 of Hansard for 20th December 1983) is very satisfactory, although he pointed out that he could not say what would actually be incorporated in the lease.
There is one legislative fly in my ointment. I should very much have preferred, as my noble friend Lord Houghton of Sowerby suggested—and he tabled amendments to this effect—that Clause 1(1), which states, the Secretary of State…may grant a lease of any part of Somerset House for such period as he thinks fit should have included the words, as he considers reasonable". I did not table an amendment today because I realised that we had reached the stage where it would be resisted once again in this House. But I should like to point out that whereas "thinks fit" leaves it absolutely to the Secretary of State's discretion—and one hopes that reason would be one of the elements that may influence him—"reasonable" means that a decision should be dictated by reason, and that alone. I only hope that this point will be taken up in another place. Having said that, we hope the Bill proceeds speedily, and once again I thank the Minister for his help throughout its passage.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness. This is a short Bill, and has received ample consideration by your Lordships. Although it appears before the House today completely unamended, numerous amendments have been debated during earlier stages and two important developments have occurred. First, as the noble 340 Baroness said, as a result of her intervention the length of the proposed lease of the north wing to the University of London is to be the subject of further negotiations with the thought that the period of the lease should be longer than was originally agreed. Secondly, the noble Lord, Lord Houghton of Sowerby, obtained an undertaking that the Government will inform Parliament whenever there is a serious prospect of a lease being granted for a significant part of Somerset House.
As the noble Baroness has just mentioned, there is one point of detail, on which I should like to dwell briefly. On Report the noble Lord, Lord Houghton of Sowerby, expressed once again his dislike of the phrase "as he thinks fit" and gave me one more chance to come up with an alternative. I have looked at this in some depth. I considered the words "expedient", "suitable" and "reasonable". I have looked at other Acts. In the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, for example, I found "as he thinks fit" in nine different places—and I might have missed a few. I also found the words, as appears to him reasonable having regard to the circumstances". Such a wretched formulation made me turn to that invaluable tool of the draftsman's art, Sir Ernest Gowers' book The Complete Plain Words, with the thought that "as he considers appropriate" might pass muster, as the noble Baroness suggested. But, no; on page 90 of Sir Ernest Gowers' book I find the word "consider" in a list of words which are overworked in official documents. Against that, he suggests the word "think" should be used in its place. Page 102 states: Appropriate—(adjective). This is an irreproachable word. But so also are "right", "suitable", "fitting" and "proper", and I do not see why "appropriate" should have it all its own way. I hope the House will agree that I have tried—

§ Baroness Birk
My Lords, I did not use the word "appropriate" at all. I used the word "reasonable". Not once did I use the word "appropriate".

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, "reasonable" was also in the words that I was investigating. In any event, I have tried very hard to meet this point, and I hope that the noble Baroness will accept that. I also pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Mancroft and to the noble Lord, Lord Houghton of Sowerby, for their detailed work on this Bill.