Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 9 Mawrth 1945.
There is one point with which I should like the Chairman of Ways and Means to deal. He has told us that the Committee have recommended the abolition of certain Parliamentary deposits, in the case of certain Parliamentary Bills, so lessening the expenditure in the case of those Bills. But the Appendix to the Report which gives the table of fees still contains a number of fees that seem to be unnecessarily high for formal processes of Bills. It surely is the object of the House to facilitate local authorities and public services getting through necessary private legislation in not only the most expeditious, but the least expensive, way. It seems a pity that we should still maintain such charges as those given on page 122. On the First Reading of a Bill there is a charge of £15; on the Second Reading of the Bill there is a charge of £15; on the Report from the Committee on the Bill there is a charge of £5; and on the Third Reading of the Bill there is a charge of £15. If the sum involved is considerable, these charges may be doubled, trebled, or quadrupled; or in the case of very large sums, they may be made six times as high. This is an unnecessary imposition on local authorities for absolutely essential work. I hope that, if the Committee have not gone into this particular point in the course of their very useful labours, there may be some assurance from the Chairman of Ways and Means that at some future date, not too distant, it will be looked into and steps taken to lessen the burdens on local authorities and public services, and to facilitate necessary legislation of this kind.