HC Deb 22 November 1954 vol 533 cc987-9

Lords Amendment: In page 44, line 42, at end insert new Clause "B": (1) In the case of any compulsory acquisition to which any of the following provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1950, that is to say—

  1. (a) subsection (2) of section twelve;
  2. (b) subsection (4) of section seventeen; and
  3. (c) subsection (2) of section thirty-six,
(which relate respectively to the compensation to be paid on the compulsory acquisition of closed houses, of houses subject to notices relating to the execution of works, and of houses unfit for human habitation) applies, whether by virtue of the said Act of 1950 or by virtue of any other enactment, being a compulsory acquisition to which this Part of this Act applies, the compensation payable in respect of the land or house acquired may be less than, but shall not exceed, the value, at the time when the valuation is made, of the site as a cleared site available for development in accordance with the requirements of the building regulations for the time being in force in the district; and accordingly the said provisions shall have effect, in relation to a compulsory acquisition to which this Part of this Act applies, as if the references therein to the compensation to be paid were references to the maximum compensation payable. (2) In this section references to compensation are references to compensation payable in respect of the acquisition otherwise than by virtue of section thirty-three of this Act and exclusive of any compensation for disturbance or for severance or for injurious affection.

Commander Galbraith

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

It might be for the convenience of the House if we considered the Amendment together with the Amendments in page 44, line 43; page 80, line 1; page 92, line 46; page 94, line 11; page 94, line 22, and page 94, line 29.

Mr. Woodburn

On a point of order. I understand that we are discussing the proposed now Clause "B," which covers the point that we raised with regard to cleared sites.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker

It is quite confusing to jump the pages in this way. The Amendments might be discussed together, but they should be put separately.

Commander Galbraith

It was only for the convenience of the House that I made the suggestion, but in view of what you have said, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, it might be permissible to take the new Clause with the Amendment in page 44, line 43.

The new Clause and that Amendment give effect to the undertaking which the right hon. Member for East Stirlingshire (Mr. Woodburn) said was given on the Report stage to amend the Clause so as to secure that compensation payable will not exceed the compensation that would have been payable under the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1950 if the "cleared site" formula in that Act had not been repealed by this Clause. That is the purpose of the new Clause.

1.15 a.m.

Mr. Woodburn

I should like to express our thanks to the right hon. and gallant Gentleman for this Amendment. When the Bill was first printed we were rather alarmed about the change in the valuation. While we were assured that, in practice, it would mean local authorities would probably pay less when buying such properties, it did not seem quite certain. We felt there was a little possibility that, in addition to paying for the site, they might be asked to pay for the building also. We are glad that this has been included. It covers a point about which many of my hon. Friends were disturbed.