Part of Orders of the Day — Part Ii – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 May 1947.
Mr Henry Strauss
, Combined English Universities
12:00,
13 May 1947
I beg to move, in page 8, line 43, to leave out paragraph (b), and to insert:
(b) that where objections and representations have been duly made in accordance with the regulations the Minister shall, unless he is satisfied that the objection or representation relates solely to a matter which can be dealt with by an arbitrator by whom compensation is to be assessed, before he approves, makes or amends such a plan, cause a local inquiry to be held.
The object of this Amendment is to avoid the risk that the regulations, which the Minister is here empowered to make, might obviate local inquiries or hearings, or only prescribe them in certain cases. I think the House will agree that in the normal case of objection a local inquiry is the proper course and it should be obligatory in the statute.
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.
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.
