HL Deb 31 October 1988 vol 501 cc11-2

3 Clause 70, page 41, line 10, after ("force") insert ("as follows—

  1. (a) section 65 and section 68 (so far as relating to Schedule 7) and this section and that Schedule, shall come into force on the day this Act is passed;
  2. (b) sections 33 to 37, 62, 63 and 67 and section 68 (so far as relating to Schedule 8 and to the entries in Schedule 10 in respect of—

7 (i) sections 62(11) to (13), 151, 200, 254, 255, 296 and 297 of; and

9 (ii) provisions of Schedules 13 and 14 to,

the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987),

and Schedule 8 and, in Schedule 10, those entries shall come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed;

(c) section 68 (so far as relating to the entry in Schedule 10 relating to paragraph (1)(b) of Schedule 16 to the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987) and that entry shall come into force on 1st April 1989;

(d) the remaining provisions shall come into force.")

4 The Commons agreed to the above amendment with the following amendment—

Line 7, leave out from beginning to end of line 9 and insert ("sections 62(11) to (13) and 151 of')

The Earl of Dundee

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 4 to the Lords Amendment No. 3.

Under the provisions of Clause 63 of this Bill, a number of Exchequer subsidies are terminated with effect from 1st April 1989; but because of a drafting error, the date of the consequential repeal of the existing powers is specified in Clause 70(2)(b) as being two months after the date of Royal Assent.

That error, if uncorrected, would leave a gap of nearly three months between the repeals and the coming into force of the new provisions on 1st April 1989. There would therefore be no legal right for a local authority to receive, or for the Government to pay, the grants and subsidies covered by these repealed provisions during that period.

Amendment No. 4 to Lords Amendment No. 3 therefore removes from Clause 70(2)(b) the references to existing provisions from those coming into force two months after the date of Royal Assent, leaving them to be repealed by a Commencement Order under subsection (2)(d) on 1st April 1989. I beg to move.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 4 to the Lords Amendment No. 3.—(The Earl of Dundee.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.