HC Deb 01 August 1947 vol 441 cc940-1

Lords Amendment: In page 138, line 48, at end, insert:

"Extension of owner-occupier supplement to certain subsidiary companies.

3.—(1) Where an interest in land the value of which falls to be ascertained in accordance with the provisions of Part II of the Act of 1944 for the purposes of the compensation payable on a compulsory acquisition thereof is an interest held by a company having among its objects the holding of land, and being related (as hereinafter defined) to another company which carries on business on land so held, then, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph (a) of Subsection (6) of Section fifty-eight of the said Act, or of any regulation made thereunder, Subsection (5) of that Section shall have effect in relation to that interest as if references in paragraphs (a) to (d) of that subsection to the person entitled to compensation for the purchase of that interest included references to the last mentioned company.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph a company shall be deemed to be related to another company if either of those companies is a subsidiary of the other (as defined by any Act of the present Session to amend the law relating to companies) or if both of them are subsidiaries (as so defined) of a third company."

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

Mr. C. Williams

As this Amendment deals with the matter of acquisition and compensation, I would like to trouble the Minister on this particular point. We ought to have an explanation. Could the Parliamentary Secretary or someone give us one? We have heard nothing whatever about this matter, so far as I know. I do not think that the point has been covered at other times in the course of consideration of the Bill. It seems to be of some importance.

Mr. Silkin

Really, it is a very simple point. It is intended to enable subsidiary companies of multiple companies to be treated as owner-occupiers in order to get the supplementary compensation—the additional percentage—until such time as they rank for market value. Under this Bill the 1939 compensation comes to an end, but until that time compensation will still be paid on that basis. So far subsidiary companies have not been treated as owner occupiers so as to entitle them to the 60 per cent. This enables the subsidiary companies to be so treated.