HC Deb 24 March 1959 vol 602 cc1157-9

(1) The provisions of Part 1 of this Act, and of the First, Second, Third and Sixth Schedules thereto, apply in relation to the acquisition of interest in land (whether compulsorily or by agreement) by government departments, being public authorities possessing compulsory purchase powers, as they apply in relation to the acquisition of interests in land by such authorities which are not government departments; and any reference in this Act to a compulsory acquisition to which section one of this Act applies, or to a sale of an interest in land by agreement in circumstances corresponding to such an acquisition, shall be construed accordingly.

(2) The provisions of sections thirty and thirty-one of this Act shall apply in relation to any application for planning permission relating to Crown land as they apply in relation to applications for planning permission relating to any other land.

(3) The rights conferred by section thirty-two of this Act shall be exercisable by a person who (within the meaning of that section) is a resident owner-occupier of a hereditament which is Crown land, in the same way as they are exercisable in respect of a hereditament which is not Crown land, and the provisions of that section and of the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall apply accordingly.

(4) In so far as any power conferred by section six of the Town Development Act, 1952, is exercisable in respect of Crown land, that power as extended by section thirty-four of this Act shall be exercisable in respect of Crown land to the like extent.

(5) Paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule to this Act shall apply in relation to an interest in land which is a Duchy interest as it applies in relation to an interest in land which is a private interest.

(6) In this section "Crown land" has the same meaning as in section eighty-seven of the Act of 1947, and "Duchy interest" and "private interest" have the same meanings as in section sixty-one of the Act of 1954.

(7) In the application of this section to Scotland, for any reference to section six of the Town Development Act, 1952, there shall be substituted a reference to section thirteen of the Housing and Town Development (Scotland) Act, 1957, for any reference to section thirty-four of this Act there shall be substituted a reference to section thirty-five of this Act, for any reference to section eighty-seven of the Act of 1947 there shall be substituted a reference to section eighty-three of the Scottish Act of 1947, and for any reference to the Act of 1954 there shall be substituted a reference to the Scottish Act of 1954.—[Mr. Bevins.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. J. R. Bevins)

I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.

Perhaps it would be convenient, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, to discuss at the same time the Government Amendment to page 54, line 30, to leave out Clause 39, to which it is related.

Mr. Mitchison

We on this side have no objection.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Charles MacAndrew) indicated assent.

Mr. Bevins

This matter was touched upon by the hon. Member for Widnes (Mr. MacColl) in the course of one of his earlier speeches, and later my right hon. Friend informed the Committee that he intended to replace the general statement in Clause 39, that This Act binds the Crown". by specific provisions dealing with the application to the Crown of certain parts of the Bill. The Amendment deletes Clause 39 altogether and replaces it with the new Clause. That sets out in detail the way in which certain parts of the Bill will apply to the Crown. It implements the undertaking given by my right hon. Friend in Committee.

4.45 p.m.

Mr. MacColl

If the Minister had not become irritated and moved the Closure to stop me speaking on Clause 15, I would not have had to make on Clause 17 the speech that I was intending to make on Clause 15. If I had not had to make it on Clause 17, I would not have had to refer to the Crown to keep in order. If I had not referred to the Crown, the Minister would not have removed Clause 39 and sought to insert the new Clause. As far as I can calculate, the net result is that the number of words used has been increased ten times. There may be a slight difference either way, but as far as I can work out the new Clause is ten times longer than Clause 39. I am, therefore, wondering what I have done and what precisely is in these words that were not in the original Clause 39.

If the right hon. Gentleman and the Parliamentary Secretary propose to have this glorious frolic of drafting and to produce this wonderful verbiage, why did they leave in Clause 17? Could not they have thrown Clause 17 with the new Clause for good measure and got rid of another Clause?

It is odd that we have this long Clause incorporating the Crown and then, perched on a shelf, as it were, Clause 17, dealing with a particular point. That was the main object of my criticism at the time. However, in so far as I have been able to understand the Clause, and in so far as it does not refer to Scotland —because I would not venture to express any point on whether the Bill is good or bad for Scotland—it seems to me that this proposal does not make the matter much worse than when we started. I therefore do not advise my hon. Friend to object to it.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.