HC Deb 09 October 1944 vol 403 cc1522-3

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this be the Second Schedule to the Bill."

The Solicitor-General

The old differing procedures are being married in the new procedure, and therefore we wish to delete this Schedule.

Sir J. Mellor

Notwithstanding what was agreed about discussing the question of public local inquiries on the new Schedule, I do not think I ought to let the Second Schedule be deleted without a protest and asking my hon. and learned Friend a question. With the deletion of this Schedule will go the right to have a public local inquiry in cases covered by Clause 10, which gives power to purchase land for certain planning purposes under the normal procedure. Why, in cases where the normal procedure is to be applied, have the Government decided to eliminate the right to have a public local inquiry and to substitute some discretionary procedure?

The Solicitor-General

I am willing to go into any of the detailed points that my hon. Friend has in mind, but the general reason is that it seemed to us much better to have a simple general procedure, that the inquiry should be at the discretion of the Minister and that the right should exist in no class of cases other than those I have mentioned. We have done our best to harmonise the two procedures, and we thought it would be for the general simplification and better working of the Bill to keep them in the form of one procedure, as I have suggested.

Sir J. Mellor

Surely the only point of that argument is that it makes for tidiness in administration. Clause 10 does not deal with matters of emergency. It deals with planning purchases under normal arrangements and there is no hurry in those cases. Why should not we have a right of public local inquiry in those cases? I am sure my hon. and learned Friend has not convinced the Committee, and we should have some argument advanced as to why the procedure under Clause 10 should be lumped together with the procedure under other Clauses.

Mr. W. S. Morrison

I do not want to go into the matter on this Schedule and repeat the arguments on the new Schedule. My hon. Friend will be entitled to raise the point on the new Schedule, which applies to all the Clauses under which land can be acquired. We can deal with it more conveniently then.

Question, "That this be the Second Schedule to the Bill," put, and negatived.

8.0 p.m.