HC Deb 23 October 1968 vol 770 cc1517-9

Lords Amendment No. 169: In page 72, line 34, leave out "under the Act of 1946".

Mr. Skeffington

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

Mr. Speaker

I suggest that with it we take Lords Amendment No. 170.

Mr. Skeffington

This is purely a machinery matter. It does not in any way vary the obligation to make a statement telling a person whose land is being acquired what the effect of the general vesting declaration is. It merely goes to the power under which the regulation setting out the form of that statement is to be made. As the Bill stands, this will be done under the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, but not all the compulsory purchase powers in relation to which the general vesting declaration power will be exercised are subject to the procedures of the 1946 Act, and it is more convenient that the regulation in question should be authorised to be made under the Bill in the same way as the form of the general vesting declaration.

Amendment No. 170 is simply a drafting Amendment.

Mr. Graham Page

Amendment No. 170 is far more than a drafting Amendment, though it is a draft Amendment in that it is the most shocking drafting that appears in the Bill. It asks us to refer to another Act, and read into that Act all sorts of words, and read a Schedule of another Act into the Bill. This is a subject that will affect practitioners in conveyancing, and it will be a very difficult exercise for them.

We on this side of the House are entirely in opposition to the extension of the vesting declaration powers, and when they are extended in this form it makes things very difficult for those who have to understand the Act and bring it into operation.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment No. 171: In page 75, line 27, leave out paragraph 16.

Mr. Skeffington

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

The Amendment is occasioned by the provisions of the Theft Act, 1968, the general purpose of which was to revise the law on theft. It provides among other things a penalty for a person who by any deception or dishonesty obtains property (which includes money) belonging to another and is convicted of the offence.

The Theft Act repeals many penalty provisions in individual statutes in order that its general provision shall replace them. The Amendment will bring the Bill into line with the general policy. We had some discussion about this in Committee, in relation to penalties.

Question put and agreed to.

B.—Section 138
In subsection (1)—
(a) after the word ' Act', where occurring for the first time, there shall be inserted the words ' and of sections 30 to 33 and (Power of mortgagee to serve blight notice) of the Act of 1968';
(b) paragraphs (a) and (b) shall be omitted; and
10 (c) in paragraph (c), for the words in parenthesis there shall be substituted the words ' (otherwise than by being dealt with in a manner mentioned in section 30(1)(a) or (b) of the Act of 1968)';
15 For subsection (5) there shall be substituted the following subsections:—
20 '(5) In this section and in the said sections 139 to 151 "these provisions" means the provisions of this section, those sections and sections 30 to 33 and (Power of mortgagee to serve blight notice) of the Act of 1968; and "the specified descriptions" means the descriptions contained in paragraphs (c) to (f) of subsection (1) of this section and paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 30(1) of that Act.
25 (6) In these provisions and in section (Power of mortgagee to serve blight notice) of the Act of 1968, "blight notice" means a notice served under the next following section or under the said section (Power of mortgagee to serve blight notice)'.
Section 139
In subsection (3)—
30 (a) in paragraph (a) the word 'designated' shall be omitted in both places; and for the words 'any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) of the last preceding section ' there shall be substituted the words ' paragraph (c) of section 138(1) above or paragraph (a) or (b) of section 30(1) of the Act of 1968'; and
35
(b) in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) for the words 'that subsection' there shall be substituted, in each place, the words 'section 138(1) above'.
40 In subsection (4), for the words 'a notice served under this section' there shall be substituted the words 'a blight notice'.
Section 140
In subsection (1), for the words 'Where a notice has been served under the last preceding section' there shall be substituted the words 'Where a blight notice has been served'.
45 For subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
50 '(3) Any counter-notice served under this section in respect of a blight notice shall specify the grounds (being one or more of the grounds specified in subsection (2) above or, as relevant, section (Power of mortgagee to serve blight notice) (8) or 31(1) of the Act of 1968) on which the appropriate authority object to the notice'.
Section 141
55 In subsection (1), for the words 'notice served under section one hundred and thirty-nine of this Act' there shall be substituted the words 'a blight notice'.