HC Deb 02 June 1960 vol 624 cc1655-6

(1) A local authority who have issued a site licence may at any time require the holder to deliver it up so as to enable them to enter in it any alteration of the conditions or other terms of the licence made in pursuance of the provisions of Part I of this Act.

(2) If the holder of a site licence fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement duly made under this section he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.—[Sir K. Joseph.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

4.15 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Sir Keith Joseph)

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

The purpose of the new Clause is to make sure that any amendment made in a site licence under Clause 6 or Clause 7, either by a local authority itself or by the Minister on appeal, will be put into the site licence. This will make sure that when a site licence is exposed on the site, it is a current site licence and incorporates any amendment which has been made in it. I am sure that that will meet the wish of the House, and I hope that the House will agree to the new Clause.

Mr. Edward Short (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Central)

I do not wish to object to the new Clause, but there is one thing which I ought to point out. The Minister has said on a number of occasions that he expects that licences and planning permission for sites will be given for considerable periods—I think that in one case he used the expression, "if not permanently". It is tremendously important that, if we are to improve sites and the conditions on sites and expect site operators to spend a good deal of money on them—and the amount of money spent per caravan on the site, per berth, varies from about £100 to about £200—there should not be many changes in conditions. I hope that local authorities will not withdraw site licences arbitrarily in order to impose new conditions from time to time, but will see that site operators have some security of tenure for a good period ahead so that they are encouraged to spend the necessary amount of money on them.

Question put and agreed to

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