HC Deb 25 February 1941 vol 369 cc399-400

Amendment made: "In page 3, line 13, leave out from the beginning, to" shall,"in line 15, and insert: Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act a payment to be made there under."—[Captain Crookshank.]

Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore

I beg to move, in page 3, line 46, at the end, to insert "engineer."

I must apologise for the Amendment being in manuscript form, but there was a slight misunderstanding between those who are interested. I think, however, that the Amendment will meet with the general acceptance of the Committee. It is simply to insert the word '' engineer '' at the end of line 46. I think it will be admitted that engineers must invariably be employed in constructional work, and hitherto, as the Clause stands, there is no mention whatsoever of the word "engineer." It has been suggested that one might qualify the word "engineer" by "structural" or "civil" or something of the sort, but we thought it might be a limiting quantity, so that the word "engineer" only has been placed before the Committee.

Major Milner (Leeds, South-East)

Could not that be covered by "other persons"? One can imagine a number of professions which might conceivably be included in this list. I should have thought that''engineer'' would be covered by the heading "or other persons."

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Captain Crookshank)

That might be so, but I am prepared to have the word inserted here.

Amendment agreed to.

Captain Crookshank

I beg to move, in page 4, line 21, to leave out from "that," to the end of line 24, and to insert: provision may be made by regulations made by the Treasury for the valuation by reference to such matters as may be therein specified of hereditaments consisting of or comprising premises of a kind not normally the subject of sales in the open market, or having a value which could not be fully realised on such a sale. In the previous Committee stage it was suggested that the proviso to Subsection (5) of the Clause was too widely drawn. We are now substituting a new proviso which makes it clear that the normal principles of valuation will be departed from only when the property in question, by reason of not normally being subject to sale in the open market, cannot be dealt with under the normal principles.

Sir I. Albery

I would like to ask whether we could have a brief idea as to the matters which the Financial Secretary and the Attorney-General have in mind.

The Attorney-General (Sir Donald Somervell)

I recollect that there was a discussion on this point. The hon. and learned Member for Ashford (Mr. Spens) and one or two other hon. Members suggested that the Clause was too widely drawn, in that it enabled the Treasury to override the normal principles of valuation. This Amendment was inserted to make it clear that the power will be resorted to only when the open market is not available.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendment made. In page 4, line 45, at the end, insert:

or which would have been so payable if a claim there for had been duly made under that Act." — [Captain Crookshank.]

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.