HC Deb 22 October 1953 vol 518 cc294-5W
100. Mr. Hurd

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that the convenience of the public is best suited by the period of summer time fixed for this year; and what advice he takes on this matter.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

The period of summer time was fixed by the Summer Time Acts, 1922 and 1925, and runs from the middle of April to the beginning of October. Before the war there was no power to vary the period, but during the war a Defence Regulation was made enabling it to be altered. This power was continued in the Summer Time Act, 1947, under which the statutory period may be altered in any year by an Order in Council, for which an affirmative Resolution of both Houses is required. As I informed the House on 11th November, 1952, the Government decided, after giving full weight to the many conflicting views held and expressed, that they would not be justified in asking the House to approve the use of these special powers during 1953.

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