Orders of the Day — Town and Country Planning Bill – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 1 Awst 1947.
Lords Amendment: In page 139, line 36, column 2, leave out from "twenty-one" to end of line 15 on page 140, and insert:
after the words ' Local Authority,' in the second place where those words occur, there shall be inserted the words ' and the Local Planning Authority within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947'; and after the words 'County Council', in the second place where those words occur, there shall be inserted the word 'not being the Local Planning Authority'.
Mr Douglas Clifton Brown
, Hexham
I understand that this and the following Amendments until we get to page 150 all hang together, and that it would be for the convenience of the House if we took them all together.
Mr Charles Williams
, Torquay
I should be only too happy to take them together, but I think that if we are to make this concession we might have a few words from the Minister about the real meaning running through the Amendments. There seem to be a large number of Amendments and I have always been taught by hon. Gentlemen opposite to be a little suspicious of Another place. I think that the right hon. Gentleman should be able to give me enough satisfaction to know that the Amendments really do hang together and that they improve the Bill.
Mr Lewis Silkin
, Camberwell Peckham
I should certainly like to give the hon. Gentleman every possible satisfaction—in view of his great interest in this matter. These are Amendments which have been brought to our notice by the Urban District Councils Association. They represent a variety of minor improvements in machinery. For instance, one preserves the present position whereby county district councils receive notice of any proposal to erect an overhead electric supply line. I am perfectly prepared to give the hon. Gentleman information on every one of the Amendments. They are all Amendments of that kind.
Mr Charles Williams
, Torquay
Would the right hon. Gentleman permit me to interrupt? I do not ask him to make remarks on every one of the Amendments. I have had some correspondence on the subject. I take it that these Amendments satisfy the local authority position.
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.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
