| Previous Section | Home Page |
(a) any principal litter authority, other than a county council, a regional council or a joint board ;
(b) any county council , regional council or joint board designated by the Secretary of State, by order, in relation to such area as is specified in the order (not being an area in a National Park) ; (
(c) any National Park Committee ;
(d) any Park board for any area in a National Park ; and (
(e) the Broads Authority'.
No. 212, in page 82, line 10, leave out a principal litter' and insert
, or in the case of any Park board or National Park Committee, an officer acting on behalf of, a litter'.
No. 213, in page 82, line 13, leave out from officer' to end of line 14 and insert
, in relation to a litter authority, means the person having responsibility for the financial affairs of the authority' ;'. No. 214, in page 82, line 14, at end insert-- "National Park Committee" means a committee appointed to perform functions under paragraph 5 of Schedule 17 to the Local Government Act 1972 ; "Park board", in relation to a National Park, means--
Column 1161
(a(a joint planning board reconstituted under paragraph 1 of Schedule 17 to the Local Government Act 1972 ; or)
(b
( a board reconstituted as a special planning board under paragraph 3 of that Schedule ;'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 76
Duty to keep land and highways clear of litter etc
Amendments made : No. 215, in page 82, line 20, at end insert-- ( ) the Secretary of State, as respects any trunk road which is a special road and any relevant highway or relevant road for which he is responsible,'.
No. 216, in page 82, line 21, at end insert--
( ) the appropriate Crown authority, as respects its relevant Crown land,'. -- [Mr. Trippier.]
Mr. Pike : I beg to move amendment No. 138, in page 82, line 30, after practicable', insert within the resources available'.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Miss Betty Boothroyd) : With this it will be convenient to take the following amendments : No. 139, in page 82, line 31, at end insert
(1A) The Secretary of State shall in respect of each financial year satisfy himself that the resources available to each local authority or other body to which this section applies are adequate to secure the proper carrying out of the functions conferred by subsection (1) above.'.
No. 145, in page 83, line 34, after prepared', insert or modified'.
Mr. Pike : Amendment No. 145 is a minor one, which makes a small improvement to the Bill. Although it is likely that the Minister will respond negatively to amendments Nos. 138 and 139, I hope that he will respond positively to that one.
Clause 76 deals with the duty of local authorities to keep highways and land free of litter. Amendment No. 138 provides that, where that is practicable, it should be carried out "within the resources available". This is the last option that we would want the Government to accept, because I believe that amendment No. 139 contains a better proposal. We tabled amendment No. 138 because we recognise that the Government are loth to make funds available to local government. If they are not prepared to meet the requirements in amendment No. 139, they should tackle the problem in the best possible way "within the resources available". That is an important distinction, going beyond the practicability referred to in clause 76.
We have seen the Government's proposals and seen how they categorise different types of streets, highways and land covered by the clause. We know about the powers they are giving the public to take action against local authorities. I know that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, always take a close interest in your local authority, Sandwell, and that you recognise the problems that the council will have in meeting the requirements of this part of the Bill. We all want litter to be eliminated.
The Government are all too fond of giving responsibilities and duties to local authorities without giving them the resources to carry them out. Councils were given the duty of calculating housing benefit after that duty was transferred from the Department of Health and Social Security, as it then was. Every local authority would claim that it has a net deficit because of that burden. The
Column 1162
Government have a duty to ensure that local authorities have the cash resources available to carry out their responsibilities.Mr. Trippier : We cannot have this. I must have told the hon. Member for Burnley (Mr. Pike) a hundred times in Committee that we will provide additional resources through the revenue support grant, as soon as we have ascertained from the consultants' study how much money will be required to provide for that new facility. It is not as easy as the hon. Gentleman makes it sound. A number of local authorities manage to do the job perfectly well within their existing resources. We are sitting in the middle of one--the City of Westminster. There is also Canterbury and, to name one that is not controlled by the Conservatives, the London borough of Sutton. It is under Liberal control, but it somehow manages miraculously to work well within its existing resources and keep the streets remarkably clean.
With the new duties imposed by this legislation, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have said many times that we are certainly prepared to consider providing additional resources as soon as the consultants' study is completed, which I hope will be within the next few months. We hope then to announce the formula that will be used for calculating those additional resources.
Mr. Pike : We have heard the same message from the Minister time after time. We judge the Government by their track record. They have failed to deliver in the past. We believe that they will again fail to do so. No doubt they will make additional resources available but they will not be sufficient. That is why we thought amendment No. 139 was essential to safeguard the position.
With the permission of the House, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendments made : No. 217, in page 82, line 32, after of', insert (a)'.
No. 218, in page 82, line 34, after responsible', insert and, (b) the Secretary of State, as respects any trunk road which is a special road and any relevant highway or relevant road for which he is responsible,'.
No. 219, in page 83, line 31, leave out authority' and insert person'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 78
Summary proceedings by persons aggrieved by litter
Amendment made : No. 220, in page 84, line 32, at end insert-- ( ) any trunk road which is a special road ;'.
No. 221, in page 84, line 33, at end insert--
( ) any relevant Crown land ;'.
No. 222, in page 84, line 39, at end insert--
( ) A principal litter authority shall not be treated as a person aggrieved for the purposes of proceedings under this section.'. No. 236, in page 84, line 41, leave out authority, institution or'.
No. 237, in page 84, line 45, leave out authority, institution or'.
No. 238, in page 84, line 46, leave out authority, institution or'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Column 1163
Clause 79
Summary proceedings by litter authorities
Amendments made : No. 223, in page 86, line 3, at beginning insert--
( ) any relevant Crown land,'.
No. 224, in page 86, line 17, at beginning insert--
( ) as respects relevant Crown land, on the appropriate Crown authority ;'.
No. 225, in page 87, line 8, after to', insert relevant Crown land or'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 82
Definitions
Amendment made : No. 226, in page 90, line 21, leave out subsection (5) and insert--
(5) "Highway" (and "highway maintainable at the public expense"), "special road" and "trunk road", in relation to England and Wales, have the same meaning as in the Highways Act 1980 and "public road", "special road" and "trunk road", in relation to Scotland, have the same meaning as in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 83
Appointment of chief inspector for England and Wales and for Scotland
Amendments made : No. 1, in page 90, line 40, leave out from Act' to the' in line 41.
No. 2, in page 90, line 42, leave out from inspector' to end of line 45.
No. 3, in page 91, line 13, leave out 9 and 14(3)' and insert and 9'.
No. 4, in page 91 line 18, leave out 16'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 85
Enforcement powers of chief inspector
Amendments made : No. 5, in page 93, line 18, after one', insert
or subsection (5) of section three'.
No. 6, in page 94, line 18, after one', insert
or subsection (5) of section three'.
No. 7, in page 94, line 29, after any', insert public or'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 89
Purpose of Part VI and meaning of "genetically modified organisms" and related expressions
Amendments made : No. 268, in page 96, line 19, leave out comprising' and insert consisting of'.
No. 269, in page 97, line 8, leave out subsection' and insert subsections (4) and'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 90
Meaning of "damage to the environment", "control" and related expressions in Part VI
Amendments made : No. 270, in page 97, line 19, leave out from water' to end of line 20 and insert
or any of those media'.
No. 271, in page 97, line 22, after have', insert
(or of a single such organism which has)'.
Column 1164
No. 272, in page 97, line 23, leave out human' and insert a person's'.No. 273, in page 97, line 24, leave out from first are' to capable' in line 27 and insert (or is)'.
No. 274, in page 97, line 30, leave out subsection (4) and insert-- (3A) An organism shall be regarded as present in the environment notwithstanding that it is present in or on any human or other organism, or any article or other substance, which is itself present in the environment.
(3B) Genetically modified organisms present in the environment are capable of causing harm if--
(a) they are individually capable, or are present in numbers such that together they are capable, of causing harm ; or
(b) they are able to produce descendants which will be capable, or which will be present in numbers such that together they will be capable, of causing harm ;
and a single organism is capable of causing harm either if it is itself capable of causing harm or if it is able to produce descendants which will be so capable.
(4) "Harm" means harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of which they form part and, in the case of man, means offence caused to any of his senses or harm to his property.
(4A) "Harmful" and "harmless" mean respectively, in relation to genetically modified organisms, their being capable or their being incapable of causing harm.
(4B) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide, in relation to genetically modified organisms of any description specified in the regulations, that--
(a) the capacity of those organisms for causing harm of any description so specified, or
(b) harm of any description so specified,
shall be disregarded for such purposes of this Part as may be so specified.'.
No. 275, in page 97, line 35, leave out from under' to keeps' in line 36 and insert
the "control" of a person where he'.
No. 276, in page 97, line 37, leave out from for' to end of line 40 and insert
either or both of the following purposes, namely--
(a) for ensuring that the organisms do not enter the environment or produce descendants which are not so contained ; or
(b) for ensuring that the organisms which do not enter the environment, or any descendants of the organisms which are not so contained, are harmless.'.
No. 267, in page 97, line 45, at end insert--
( ) Genetically modified organisms of any description are "marketed" when products consisting of or including such organisms are placed on the market.'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 91
Risk assessment and notification requirements
Amendment made : No. 244, page 98, line 3, leave out clause 91.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 92
Requirements applicable to personal imports
Amendment made : No. 256, in page 99, line 5, leave out clause 92.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 93
Consents required by certain persons
Amendment made : No. 262, in page 100, line 2, leave out from beginning to any' and insert or acquire, release or market.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Column 1165
No. 277, in page 100, line 5, leave out received a direction' and insert been given directions'.No. 245, in page 100, leave out line 6 and insert
(risk assessment and notification requirements) (8)(a) above'. No. 263, in page 100, line 9, at end insert--
(1A) Subject to subsection (6) below, no person who has imported or acquired any genetically modified organisms (whether under a consent or not) shall continue to keep the organisms--
(a) in such cases or circumstances as may be prescribed, after the end of the prescribed period, or
(b) if he has been given directions under section (risk assessment and notification requirements) (8)(b) above, after the date specified in the directions,
except in pursuance of a consent granted by the Secretary of State and in accordance with any limitations or conditions to which the consent is subject.'.
No. 291, in page 100, line 9, at end insert--
(1B) A person who is required under subsection (1A) above to cease keeping any genetically modified organisms shall dispose of them as quickly and safely as practicable'.
No. 264, in page 100, line 10, leave out subsection (2). No. 265, in page 100, line 28, leave out from beginning to above' and insert
any requirement under subsection (1) or (1A)'.
No. 289, in page 100, line 34, leave out from consent' to or' in line 35 and insert
subject to such limitations and conditions as may be imposed under section (consents : limitations and conditions) below'.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 95
Duties relating to the importation, keeping or release of organisms in the course of an undertaking
Amendment made : No. 254, in page 101, line 22, leave out Clause 95.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 97
Rights of entry and inspection
Amendments made : No. 278, in page 103, line 30, leave out from be' to genetically' in line 31 and insert
a genetically modified organism or to consist of or include'. No. 279, in page 104, line 13, leave out from above' to he'. No. 280, in page 104, line 17, leave out from above' to an' in line 18.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
Clause 98
Obtaining of information from persons
Amendment made : No. 290, in page 105, leave out lines 1 to 4 and insert--
(a)
(to be involved in the importation, acquisition, keeping, release or marketing of genetically modified organisms ; or)
(b
(to be about to become, or to have been, involved in any of those
activities ;'.-- [Mr. Trippier.] )
Clause 99
Prohibition notices
Amendment made : No. 257, in page 105, line 16, leave out clause 99.-- [Mr. Trippier.]
| Next Section
| Home Page |