Orders of the Day — Civil Defence Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 14 June 1939.
Sir John Anderson
, Combined Scottish Universities
I beg to move, in page 62, line 30, to leave out "the advice of," and to insert, "advice given specifically to him by."
The purpose of this Amendment is to make it quite clear, in accordance with what was the original intention, that Subsection (I) (c) applies to advice given specifically with reference to a particular case and not to advice conveyed by implication in a general document, memorandum, or whatever it may be. Cases in which advice is given in general terms are intended to be dealt with in regulations under Sub-section (2).
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
I welcome the alteration that is being made by this Amendment, but I would like to ask the Lord Privy Seal whether he proposes that this specific advice shall be given in writing. There should be something which the person who receives the advice can produce to the local authority or other authority when he wants to claim an exemption from the by-Laws. Clearly a conversation between a factory inspector or some other person tendering advice and the recipient of the advice might create some difficulty. Therefore, although it is not stated that the advice shall be given in writing, I hope that there will be a general understanding that it shall be in writing, and that if necessary, there will be introduced in Another place appropriate words to ensure that it shall be so.
Sir John Anderson
, Combined Scottish Universities
I entirely share the view expressed by the hon. Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede). From the point of view of sound administration, it is very desirable that the advice should be in writing, and that is the intention.
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
Will words to that effect be inserted in the Bill in Another place?
Sir John Anderson
, Combined Scottish Universities
I doubt whether it will be necessary to put it in the Bill.
Sir Stafford Cripps
, Bristol East
Clearly there are cases where the inspector might go to a place and give advice orally, and then when he had gone there might be arguments about what he said. Surely, to make certain, it would be better to put it in the Bill.
Sir John Anderson
, Combined Scottish Universities
As far as the inspectors are concerned, I think we could make even more certain by making this a specific written instruction to the inspectors. I will consider whether it is desirable that words should be inserted in the Bill to deal with the matter.
Sir John Anderson
, Combined Scottish Universities
I beg to move, in page 62, line 34, at the end, to insert:
(d) by any person in pursuance of any notice under Part VI of this Act given to him by the Minister or the appropriate Department.
The object of this Amendment is to exempt from by-Laws, requirements as to building lines, etc., works carried out in pursuance of a notice under Part VI of the Bill relating to camouflage and the obscuration of glare. It has been brought to notice since the Clause was first drafted that it might well be that in the case, for example, of camouflage, some structures which might infringe the building line might have to be erected in order to break up the outline of the building which it was intended to camouflage.
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
I welcome this Amendment. I draw the right hon. Gentleman's attention to the fact that in these matters there has to be notice in writing under Clause 41. Therefore, it would appear desirable that the Bill should be uniform and that everywhere in this particular Clause notices and advice which would have to be produced to the local authorities should be more or less in a common form and should be in writing.
Laws are the rules by which a country is governed. Britain has a long history of law making and the laws of this country can be divided into three types:- 1) Statute Laws are the laws that have been made by Parliament. 2) Case Law is law that has been established from cases tried in the courts - the laws arise from test cases. The result of the test case creates a precedent on which future cases are judged. 3) Common Law is a part of English Law, which has not come from Parliament. It consists of rules of law which have developed from customs or judgements made in courts over hundreds of years. For example until 1861 Parliament had never passed a law saying that murder was an offence. From the earliest times courts had judged that murder was a crime so there was no need to make a law.
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.
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.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
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.
