§ Lord Nugent of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Local Government (Interim Provisions) 552WA Bill will be activated after Second Reading of the main abolition Bill by the House of Commons and whether this will derogate from the powers of the House of Lords.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)Not at all. The making of a commencement order for the paving Bill would not in any way pre-empt detailed examination by the House of Lords of the whole of the main Bill. That Bill will still have to go through all the usual stages, in both Houses.
The activation of Clause 2 of the paving Bill, which provides for the cancellation of the local government elections due to take place on 2nd May 1985, cannot be tied to the main Bill having its Second Reading in the House of Lords or receiving Royal Assent. If it were, the detailed consideration which both Houses will wish to give to the main Bill means it could not be guaranteed that the paving provisions could be activated in time to cancel the elections.
However, if the main Bill were to fail at any stage, the paving Bill contains the means of restoring the status quo. The Secretary of State has undertaken that he would make an order under Clause 1(2) to restore elections without delay. If the main Bill failed at any early stage it would be possible to restore the May 1985 elections. If abolition failed later, the May elections would have been cancelled, of course, but new elections would be held later in 1985. Thus, the provisions of the paving Bill would in effect be repealed.