HC Deb 15 December 1971 vol 828 cc450-1
24. Mrs. Sally Oppenheim

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to issue the necessary amending orders with regard to the prescribed statutory form of explanatory leaflet used when compulsory purchase orders are made, under Part III of the Housing Act, 1957, in order to bring them up to date with, and make them appropriate to, the changes in compensation that were made in the Housing Act, 1969.

Mr. Amery

The necessary Statutory Instrument will be laid before Parliament early in the New Year.

Mrs. Oppenheim

Is my right hon. Friend aware that that is very good news indeed because as no amendment has been made to the form prescribed in the 1957 Act—although substantial changes were made in the 1959 Act—local authorities have been forced, for two and a half years, to issue a form of notice with regard to slum clearance compensation that was not only complicated and difficult for the layman to understand but was misleading and incorrect? I am pleased that my right hon. Friend is to put an end to this administrative gobbledegook.

Mr. Amery

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and to the Town Clerk of Gloucester for their vigilance which has kept us up to the mark.

Mr. Heffer

Would the right hon. Gentleman, at the same time as he issues the new notice, inform those concerned that the change in the law which brought the matter into proper perspective and gave people greater opportunities for decent compensation was brought in by the previous Government?

Mr. Amery

I shall look into the point made by the hon. Gentleman.