Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 25 Gorffennaf 1922.
Mr George Balfour
, Hampstead
My hon. Friend is evidently not prepared to accept any of the Amendments. Therefore I will move only the last of the series. I beg to move, as an Amendment to the proposed new Clause, at the end of Sub-section (1), to insert the words:
Provided also that the Electricity Commissioners shall not by any such Order exclude from the area of supply of any power company any part of that area to which the provisions of paragraph (b) of this Sub-Section may apply unless and until a special Order has been made in virtue of the provisions of Section fifteen of this Act with regard to such part of the area of supply of a power company.
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.
