Orders of the Day — Housing Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 April 1964.
Mr Frederick Corfield
, Gloucestershire South
12:00,
13 April 1964
I beg to move Amendment No. 159, in page 86, line 12, to leave out "thirty-five and to insert "forty-two".
I hope that this Amendment meets some criticism raised on the point in Standing Committee by the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Mr. Manuel):and others that the 35 days in the present print was too short. We had a considerable argument and eventually it was suggested that we might meet the criticism to the extent of a week or two. We have taken the generous end of the bracket and have gone from 35 days to 42 days, which, I hope, is a compromise which will be accepted.
Mr Eustace Willis
, Edinburgh East
The Amendment was sought by one of my hon. Friends for one of the Glasgow divisions. Glasgow argued that it required rather more time to go through the processes of the council. Even though the increase is small and does not go anywhere near what Glasgow asked for, nevertheless we are grateful for the small concession.
Mr Frederick Corfield
, Gloucestershire South
I beg to move, in page 86, line 16, at the end to insert:
Provided that if an appeal has been brought under this section, then, except with the leave of the county court, another appeal shall not be so brought, whether by the same or a different appellant, in respect of the same control
order until the expiration of a period of six months beginning with the final determination of the first-mentioned appeal.
The Amendment is designed to limit the load on the county courts and the number of appeals and the rapidity with which they can be brought on the same issue by different interested parties in the same property. The matter was first raised in Committee by the hon. Lady the Member for Wood Green (Mrs. Butler), who was supported, particularly with reference to the load on county courts, by my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mr. Graham Page) and the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (Mr. Skeffington).
All that the Amendment does is to make it necessary for a prospective appellant to have the leave of the court if appealing within six months of the determination of another appeal in respect of the same order and the same premises. This is a considerable improvement on the original Bill.
Further Amendments made: In line 43, at end insert:
(7A) if on an appeal under this section the county court decides to revoke the control order, the court may make an order under which the revocation does not take effect until the time for appealing against the decision of the county court has expired and until any such appeal brought within that time has been finally determined.—[Mr. Corfield.]
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.
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House of Commons (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House of Commons. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments. There are no standing committees in the House of Lords.
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.
