Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 December 1947.
Mr William Hall
, Colne Valley
12:00,
9 December 1947
I dealt with this matter on the Second Reading stage, and I am sorry to find that I have not satisfied the hon. Member for Torquay (Mr. C. Williams). I can only repeat to him that this is an enabling Measure. We have to pass a Measure of this sort because, no local authority can go into the market and borrow money for its own needs. Under the Act of 1945, it must come to the Public Works Loans Board, which is the organ dealing with this matter on behalf of the Government. The present Act, which this Bill will replace, is nearly exhausted. The amounts which were there allowed were £250 million for cash advances and up to £500 million cash advances plus commitments. There now remains only about £30 million under the present powers to advance actual money, and the powers to commit are, in addition, very largely used. It is, therefore, essential that we should get fresh powers to permit the Public Works Loans Board to advance money, or to promise to advance money, to local authorities who need it.
In the Majority of cases, in so far as local authorities will come to the Public Works Loans Board, they will come for moneys for housing purposes, and they will not come until they have been through the appropriate Department, in this case the Ministry of Health. Therefore, any schemes which come forward will have gone through the proper channels and will have been completely vetted. Many of these schemes, as the hon. Gentleman knows, have already been agreed to, although the money has not yet been advanced. The Government, in turn, have decided to finish off the houses which are in a fair way towards completion, Therefore, to complete these houses as visualised in the white paper, local authorities will need money, and some of this money will undoubtedly go to them. If it does not go to them, it will not be used.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
