Orders of the Day — Ministry of Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill – in the House of Commons at on 8 December 1920.
(1) The council of a county or a Metro politan borough or the common council of tho City of London may subject to the approval of the Minister appropriate for any purpose for which they may be authorised to acquire land any land acquired by the council for some other purpose and not required for that purpose:
Provided also that the appropriation of the land under this Section by a Metropolitan borough council shall be subject to the approval of the London County Council in addition to that of the Minister if the consent of that council was necessary to the raising of a loan by the Metropolitan borough council for the purchase of the land.
(2) Section ninety-five of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act 1907 which makes provision with respect to the purchase and appropriation of land by certain local authorities) shall extend and apply to every district in England and Wales to which it has not been applied by and Order made under Section three of that Act as if had been so applied.
Amendments made: In Sub-section (1) after the word "Minister" ["approval of the Minister"] insert the words "and subject to the like restrictions as are contained in Section ninety-five of the Public Health Acts (Amendment) Act, 1907, in respect of the appropriation of land by local authorities under that Section."
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
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.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
