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to time, but a licence cannot be granted unless the local
authority (in the Metropolis the Vestry or District Board of
Works) has first given its consent. A licence is operative
directly it has been granted by the Board of Trade.
A Provisional Order is likewise granted by the Board of
Trade, but the period may be unlimited. The consent of the
local authority is, under the Act of .1888, also required to the
grant of a Provisional Order, subject, however, to the Board
of Trade deciding (if consent is withheld) that there are
special circumstances in any particular case rendering such
consent unnecessary. A Provisional Order is not operative
until it has been confirmed by Parliament. It is, in fact, a
private Act of Parliament, but has the advantage over
ordinary private legislation of having been considered by a
Governmental Department advised by experts before being
submitted to Parliament.
Within six months after the expiration of 42 years from
the date of the passing of the Act confirming the Order, or
after the expiration of any subsequent period of ten years, the
local authority may, upon notice, acquire the undertaking
within their jurisdiction on payment of the then value of the
property, without any addition for compulsory purchase,
goodwill, or prospective profit.
The Electric Lighting Acts do not prevent a Company
obtaining a special private Act of Parliament, as they might
have done before the passing of the Acts, but they regulate
the principles upon which such special legislation is to proceed,
and practically require the special Act to be framed in
the same form, mutatis mutandis, as a Provisional Order.
Applicants for Provisional Orders, or for private Bills, are
required to give notice to the Vestry or District Board, in