HC Deb 19 February 1948 vol 447 cc1448-9
Mr. J. Edwards

I beg to move, in page 28, to leave out lines 23 and 24, and to insert: (a) either the chairman of the local valuation panel or the deputy chairman (or, if more than one, one of the deputy chairmen) thereof. There are several Amendments following which are closely related to this.

Taken as a whole these Amendments are devised to meet the discussion in Committee on the point that as the Bill was drafted too much power was given to the chairmen of the panel in the selection of other members of valuation courts. This would incidentally introduce the possibility of appointment of more than one deputy chairman which might be necessary, in large areas where the work might be heavy. In order to secure some consistency in the decisions of the courts in the area of the panel it is provided that each court should include either the chairman or the deputy chairman, or, as a result of the Amendment, one of the deputy chairmen, when it sits. The later Amendment in page 29, line 41, provides that not more than two deputy chairmen should be appointed. The final two Amendments provide that selection of the courts shall be on a system to be laid down under the Clause, under which the panel will be constituted generally, on some system of rotation, but according to the needs of the area which might, for example, depend on the areas in which the courts are to sit in relation to places in which the members live. Taken as a whole, these Amendments should provide greater flexibility in the setting up and working of the courts.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendment made: In line 25, leave out "by the chairman of the panel," and insert: in accordance with the scheme under which the panel is constituted."—[Mr. J. Edwards.]