Orders of the Day — Ministry of Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 8 December 1920.
Where any grant under Section one of the Housing (Additional Powers) Act, 1919, as amended by any enactment, has been or shall be made towards the construction of a house, then, notwithstanding anything in Sub-section (9)' of Section twelve of the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act, 1920, the provisions of the last cited Act shall apply to that house, or any part thereof, if let as a separate dwelling, and every such house or part of a house shall be deemed to be a dwelling-house to which the last cited Act applies.—[Mr. Charles Edwards.]
Sir Charles Edwards
, Bedwellty
I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."
I am afraid that what was said by the hon. and gallant Member, representing the Government, just now in reference to new Clauses does not give us very much encouragement. Paragraph (a) of Cause 1 of this Bill says:
This Section shall not apply to any house erected after or in the course of erection on the 2nd day of April, 1919.
The object of this new Clause is to bring houses that have been built under the Government subsidy scheme within the Rent Restrictions Act. At present there is no restriction whatever on the rent which may be charged or the price which may be put upon these houses for sale. If it is right to restrict the rent to be charged on a house in the building of which the Government has had no hand, surely it is also right to bring under the same restriction houses partly built by Government grants. That is the chief purpose of this Clause. There have been charges of gross profiteering in regard to houses built with the aid of Government grants. We were told the other day that some hundreds of pounds had been made by people who had built these houses for gain. These dwellings are being built, and are then held up, sometimes for a considerable period, until a purchaser comes forward who will give the price demanded. The only purpose of the first Clause in this Bill is to bring into use houses that have been vacant or uninhabited for at least three months. If these new houses are brought under the Rent Restrictions Act it will have some effect, also, upon the prices asked.
Sir Albert Parkinson
, Blackpool
I beg to second the motion.
Lieut-Colonel Leslie Wilson
, Reading
This new Clause is, to all intents and purposes an Amendment of the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Act. I could argue the merits or demerits of the proposal at some little length, but I would point out to the House that to adopt this Clause would really be a retrograde step. Instead of adding to the number of houses available for the people it would diminish it. The Standing Committee upstairs accepted a provision that Clause 1 should not apply to the new houses. By this new Clause the hon. Member is proposing to adopt an entirely different point of view to that taken by the Committee. I do not wish to argue the Clause so much on its merits as from the point of view put by my right hon. Friend, namely, that the Government feels bound, in view of the statements made on the Second Reading and in Committee upstairs, to offer its Opposition to all these new Clauses proposed to-day in the House. I therefore regret that it is quite impossible for the Government to accept the Clause.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House of Commons (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House of Commons. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments. There are no standing committees in the House of Lords.
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Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
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