§ Amendment made: In page 4, line 31, after "under", insert "subsections (2) to (5) of."—[Mr. Renton.]
§ Mr. RentonI beg to move, in page 4, line 40, to leave out "as reasonably practicable."
I suggest that this Amendment and the next one be taken together.
§ Mr. RentonAt present, Clause 2 (2), as it stands, provides that the Board must decide whether to make a cost of works payment under Clause 1 (3) or a value payment under Clause 1 (4) as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving a damage notice. In practice, we acknowledge that the Board may not be able to make this decision at once, because there may be a doubt about the position with regard to the alternative rights under Clause 6, or because there is an unresolved dispute between the tenant and 1416 his landlord about who is to be treated as the person liable to make good the damage under the third new Clause. Hon. Members will recollect that that is the one which deals with the tenant's right to compensation for improvements on the termination of his tenancy.
So in order to provide for the delay which will necessarily occur owing to this doubt, what we propose in these Amendments is that the Board shall make its decision as soon after receiving a damage notice as is reasonably practicable, having regard, among other things, to the provisions of Clause 6 and the third new Clause. I hope that that will be considered to put the matter right.
§ Mr. RobensThe Parliamentary Secretary's explanation of this Amendment is one which commends itself to us, and I recommend my hon. Friends to accept it.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Further Amendment made: In page 4, line 42, at end insert:
as is reasonably practicable having regard among other things to the provisions of sections six and (Special provisions as to certain tenants) of this Act."—[Mr. Renton.]
§ Mr. RentonI beg to move, in page 5, line 24, after "property", to insert "(a)"
I suggest that this Amendment and the next one be taken together.
§ Mr. RentonThese are Amendments designed to make it clear that the Board will not be obliged to pay for emergency works executed after it has discharged its liabilities under the Bill by electing to make a value payment under Clause 1 (4). It obviously would not be proper to make the Board pay twice in those circumstances, and if we insert the words in the second Amendment which we are discussing the Board will be saved that obligation.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Further Amendment made: In page 5, line 28, at end insert:
or
§ Mr. RentonI beg to move, in page 5, line 28, at the end to insert:
(5) Where the board have given notice under subsection (2) of this section to the person by whom a damage notice was served that they propose to execute remedial works under subsection (2) of the foregoing section, the Board, if so requested by that person at any time before these works are completed, shall give to that person in writing adequate information with respect to any of those works still remaining to be executed.During the Committee stage, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. du Cann) asked whether the Coal Board could be required to give advance notice of all the repairs—at least, all the substantial repairs—which it considered it would have to do to carry out to restore property. I gave to the Committee a statement embodying an undertaking by the National Coal Board that it would certainly give notice in advance of all substantial repairs that it proposed to carry out. We have considered this matter further and intend to make a legal obligation on the Board which goes very much beyond that undertaking.The Amendment will require the Board, when undertaking remedial works itself, to give details of all works which remain to be executed if the person serving the damage notice asks for a list of those repairs to be given. This means, in effect, that if the Board is asked for the information before the works are even begun, it must give details of all the works that it proposes to execute, whether substantial or not.
It is only right and fair to the Board that I should explain why we have not merely fulfilled our promise to write into the Bill the undertaking by the Board to give notice of substantial repairs. The simple answer is that the definition of "substantial repairs" baffles the imagination of the Parliamentary draftsman. It is difficult for any of us to know where to draw the line. For that reason, and after due consultation, we have decided to go the whale hog and to write into the Bill that if anyone wants notice from the National Coal Board of repairs which it proposes to carry out, it shall be given.
§ Mr. RobensDuring the passage of the Bill and the Amendments that we have been considering today, one has been impressed how well the Parliamentary Secretary and the Minister have fulfilled the undertakings which they gave in 1418 Committee. We ought to say that right away in appreciation of the work that they have done.
When this matter was under discussion, it was suggested by one of my hon. Friends that it should be automatic that the Board should indicate the amount of repairs that were to be done. The Amendment provides that the repairs to be done will be put in writing and supplied to the individual concerned only if requested.
§ Mr. Rentonindicated assent.
§ Mr. RobensIn other words, it will not be automatic. That is a sensible method, because there will be many people who do not want details of all the minor repairs that the Board will require to undertake under the Bill. I regard this as another indication of the way in which the Ministry have met us on the matters we discussed in Committee and we are glad to support the Amendment.
§ Mr. RentonThe right hon. Gentleman's interpretation is quite correct. It would have been over-zealous to require the Coal Board to submit lists of things which the people concerned do not need.
§ Amendment agreed to.