HC Deb 22 November 1954 vol 533 cc997-8

Lords Amendment: In page 52 line 29, at end insert: Provided that if at any time an amount becomes recoverable under section thirty-one of this Act, as applied by the subsequent provisions of this section, in respect of that compensation, then, for the purposes of Parts II and III of this Act, paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall have effect as from that time as if the principal amount of that compensation had been reduced by a sum equal to seven-eighths of the amount which has so become recoverable. (3) Where in the case of any claim holding (in this subsection referred to as "the parent holding") compensation under this Part of this Act is payable in respect of the depreciation of an interest in land by one or more planning decisions or orders, and any such decision or order did not extend to the whole of the area of the parent holding, then, both for the purposes of the last preceding subsection and for the purposes of Parts II and III of this Act—

  1. (a) the parent holding shall be treated as having been divided immediately before the commencement of this Act into as many separate claim holdings, with such areas, as may be necessary to ensure that in the case of each holding either any such decision or order extending to the area of that holding extended to the whole thereof or that no such decision or order extended to the area of that holding;
  2. (b) the value of each of the separate holdings respectively shall be taken to be that fraction of the value of the parent holding which then attached to the part of the area of the parent holding constituting the area of the separate holding;
  3. (c) the authority determining the amount of any such compensation shall apportion that amount between the areas of the separate claim holdings to which the decision or order in question extended in such manner as appears to that authority proper, and the portion of that amount apportioned to the area of any separate claim holding shall be taken to be compensation payable under this Part of this Act in respect of that claim holding.

Commander Galbraith

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

It might be convenient if we also take the Lords Amendment in line 31. The Amendment does two things. First, it provides for the case where compensation paid under Part V of the Bill becomes recoverable on subsequent development of the land. The second purpose is to ensure that when a compensation payment is made in respect of pail only of the area of a claim holding, it is debited against the fraction of the value of the holding appropriate to that part and not against the holding as a whole.

Mr. Lawson

Could I have an explanation of the effects of the Amendment? This relates to a case which I raised on Report. The question then was what was the effect of this compensation when a claim had been in part liquidated. It seems to me that what happens is that the claim is in part liquidated, or perhaps wholly liquidated, through the refusal to permit development, and then subsequently development is permitted and the party who had received compensation has to repay it. Is the unexpended value brought back to its original amount? In the event of compulsory purchase, would a local authority have to pay on the basis of this renewed unexpended value?

Commander Galbraith

I answered that question fully on Report.

Mr. Lawson

The answer I was then given was that the local authority would not be required to pay that amount, and if I read this Amendment correctly, that answer was wrong. Is that so?

Mr. D. Johnston

Is not my hon. Friend right? Does not the Amendment do what the right hon. and gallant Gentleman said was done previously?

Commander Galbraith

The unexpended balance is in effect brought back and the local authority would have to pay the full claim.

Mr. Lawson

That is not what the right hon. and gallant Gentleman said on Report. He said the contrary.

Mr. D. Johnston

Is not the answer to my hon. Friend's question, "Yes, I was wrong"?

Commander Galbraith

No.

Question put, and agreed to.—[Special Entry.]

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to: In line 31, after "Act" insert: ,except subsection (10) of the said section thirty-one,