HC Deb 30 March 1938 vol 333 cc2040-1

In the application of the provisions of this Part of this Act and of the Third to Sixth Schedules to this Act that relate to the valuation of holdings, to registration or rectification of the register under the Registration Act, or to the preparation of leases or other instruments or of lease consolidation schemes, to a case in which a person, by or to whom any notice is required or authorised to be given, information furnished, or other act or thing done for the purposes of proceedings under those provisions, dies or is or becomes otherwise unable to act, references in those provisions to that person shall be construed; as including references to a person substituted for that person in accordance with rules made by the Board of Trade.—[Captain Crook-shank.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

4.59 p.m.

The Secretary for Mines (Captain Crookshank)

I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."

This is purely a machinery Clause, and I think that I owe the House an apology for its omission from the Bill. It is only in order to deal with the case of the claimant, what is to be done with regard to serving notices, and so forth, in cases where the claimant should either become incapacitated or should die during what is a fairly long period of the valuation and transitional stages of the Bill. The House will recollect that the proceedings for valuation involve documents to be served by claimants and upon claimants, and it is necessary that some provision should be made in the case of death or incapacity. It does not necessarily follow that in cases of this kind the proper person would be the personal representative of the deceased. It might be more suitable sometimes to have trustees and the like. The Clause does not raise any issues of novelty or importance.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.