Orders of the Day — Economy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 10 July 1922.

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Photo of Sir Robert Horne Sir Robert Horne , Glasgow Hillhead

Certainly; but my hon. and gallant Friend will have every opportunity of raising the question in Committee, where it can be thrashed out in detail. A provision is made that a fee may be charged for entrance into the British Museum on certain dates and for such things as may be thought proper, and also that in connection with the county courts the registrars' fees should be put upon a different basis, and should be regulated by salary rather than by fees on the amount of the work which is done in the court.

I turn now to the proposals which are made in connection with the Home Office. The main provision which it is sought to pass into law now is in Clause 19 of the Bill and deals with the consolidation of police forces. I think it has come to be very clearly recognised by all those who have experience in the administration of police forces in this country that full efficiency is not obtained and that the expenditure is increased because of divisions between police forces which are either purely arbitrary or are caused by lines of demarcation between authorities which could, with advantage to the public service, be rubbed out. Accordingly, this Clause seeks to enact that where you have got contiguous authorities, they may themselves take into consideration the amalgamation of their arrangements for providing police forces. In cases where they do not themselves desire to do so, the Home Secretary may initiate consideration of such a topic, and where you have got contiguous authorities of not more than 50,000 inhabitants, if they fail within three months to bring about some scheme of consolidation such as the Home Secretary thinks desirable, he may then himself decide the terms upon which such consolidation could take place. If he decides contrary to the wishes, or what are supposed to be the wishes, of any of the areas involved, then provision is made for the holding of a public inquiry by which the matter can be decided; but I think the House will agree that wherever we can achieve some economy, and also efficiency, by making such arrangements, we should take every opportunity of doing so.

There are some minor provisions in regard to England and Scotland, which will achieve some economies, whereby prisoners may be kept for a longer term in local police stations than they can be kept at present. For example, the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for the Western Isles (Dr. Murray) have to be taken after, I think, 14 days to Inverness, and they cannot be kept any longer than the period which I have described in the local police stations. In such constituencies, where there is very little crime, it would seem to be entirely unnecessary to make such a provision, and accordingly we seek to extend the period to 30 days before the jaunt to Inverness would become necessary.