§ 2. Mr. Loveysasked the Minister of Health whether, in disposing of land for which his Department has no further use, he will give the previous owners first refusal if they had been unwilling sellers to his Department in the first place even though they did not insist on compulsory purchase.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonNo, Sir. Other Government Departments have first refusal of surplus hospital land.
§ Mr. LoveysDoes not the Minister feel under a definite moral obligation, particularly if land is not needed for the public benefit, to offer the land back to the owners, who agreed to sell purely to help the hospital service and who would now be offered the land back automatically had it been compulsorily purchased in the first place?
§ Mr. RobinsonNo, Sir. Surplus hospital land for which there is no other Government use is then offered, save in one set of exceptional circumstances, to local authorities.
§ Mr. LoveysMay I give notice that, owing to the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible opportunity.