Part of Clause 2 – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 December 1973.
Mr Graham Page
, Crosby
12:00,
20 December 1973
I have to resist the Amendment on the ground that once the change has been made to the local government boundaries in this area—as I hope it will be under the Bill—it should be as if that had occurred under the Local Government Act 1972. I explained to the Committee why the boundaries as set out in the Bill were not included in the Act of 1972. The Bill is an endeavour to put the Act right. Once the Act has been put right we should abide by its provisions. That is what the Clause does.
The provisions as to consultation in Clause 2(2) follow exactly those in the Local Government Act 1972. The House of Commons found them reasonably satisfactory and they should apply once we make the alteration of the boundaries. The bodies to be consulted are the local authorities, county, district and parish, which are involved in the change; the parish was consulted on this occasion. One might say that that is the right and proper form of consultation if a change is being made in a parish boundary. One would seek the views of the parish council, and if the parish council wished to take the view of its parish meeting it would do so. That would be in the nature of a poll.
If it were a change in a district boundary, the district council would be the right body to consult. The members of the district council are elected to govern their area and it would be right for the Secretary of State to consult the district council and, of course, the county in so far as it was involved. Those are the bodies who have been consulted previously on the alteration of boundaries. The provisions are now new in law. They have been applied previously in boundary changes and have stood the test of time.
We must leave it to the secretary or State at the time to consider what consultations should be undertaken, and if he does not undertake the right consultations he is answerable to the House of Commons.
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.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
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.
