§ 15 Clause 7, page 5, line 17, leave out from 'can' to 'to', in line 19, and insert 'comply with such regulations as may be made by the Secretary of State with a view to the Secretary of State or the child support officer being provided with the information which is required—'.
§ 16Page 5, line 23, leave out 'child support maintenance' and insert 'amount'.
§ 17 Page 5, line 24, leave out from 'parent' to end of line 27.
§
18 Page 5, line 30, after 'section', insert:
'(6A) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to comply with any request made under subsection (6)'.
§ Lord HenleyMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 15 to 18 en bloc. I spoke to these amendments with Amendment No. 4.
§ Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 15 to 18 en bloc.—(Lord Henley.)
§ Lord Simon of GlaisdaleMy Lords, I should have raised this matter earlier; it concerns Amendment No. 18. I do not understand it typographically, or perhaps grammatically. The amendment states:
(6A) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to comply with any request made under subsection (6)".Subsection (6) states:The child who has made the application (but not the person having care of him) may at any time request the Secretary of State to cease acting under this section".There I thought one inserts the words of the new subsection (6A). I may have misread it entirely; but at the moment I do not understand how it works.
§ Lord HenleyMy Lords, I dealt with this at some length in response to my noble friend Lord Renton and the noble Lord, Lord Mishcon, and I believe my friend Lady Elles. I said that in Clause 6 the words in brackets have been removed and attached to Amendment No 18, that is, the new subsection (6A). The words after 'section' become attached to the new subsection which is subsection (6A). I hope the noble and learned Lord now understands the point that was being made by the noble Lord, Lord Renton, and which I hope I dealt with earlier.
§ Lord Simon of GlaisdaleMy Lords, I may have misunderstood. But if the noble Lord having looked into the matter is satisfied that that is right, there is no more to be said. If it is wrong, he can still ask leave to move a manuscript amendment.
§ Lord MishconMy Lords, I should like to say right away that I have looked at this again in the light of the explanation of the Minister. I now see what the clause 515 is meant to be. I apologise if in any way I led him to think that I was adamant in feeling that his amendment was wrong.
§ Lord HenleyMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mishcon. I should like to say to the noble and learned Lord that I am satisfied that the amendment is correct and does not need any form of manuscript amendment. I hope the noble and learned Lord will accept that other noble Lords are satisfied with my explanation.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ 6.15 p.m.