asked the Minister of Fuel and Power if he will state the Sections of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946, under which he is empowered to make S.R. & 0., 1947, No. 103; and why these Sections are not specified in the aforementioned Order.

S.R. & O. 1947 No. 103 amended S.R. & O. 1946 No. 1574, which was made under Sections 5 (4), 9 (1), and 11 (1), (2) and (4), 13 (2), 14 and 62 of the Act. In view of the number of statutory provisions under which these Regulations were made, and the fact that each provision related to various parts of the instrument, it was felt that their citation would only cause confusion.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it would save a good deal of trouble if these Sections could be cited in the Order, and did not require to be elicited by the method of Parliamentary Questions?

If hon. Members prefer it that way, I will see that in future we cite the Sections to which the regulations refer, but I must warn hon. Members that may not be possible.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many Members would prefer to keep these Orders as simple as possible?