§ Lords Amendment: No. 116, in page 20, line 12, after "subsection" insert "(2A)or".
§ Mr. John SilkinI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
§ Mr. SilkinThe amendments provide that where the Secretary of State decides not to confirm a compulsory purchase order made after the relevant date for designated relevant development—that is, when the full duty is in force—the suspension of planning permission for relevant development shall be lifted from the land in question, if the Secretary of State so directs.
Once the full duty is in operation, authorities in an area will have to acquire between them all the land needed for designated relevant development
But there might be very limited circumstances in which, even when the full 1427 duty was operating, an authority ought not to acquire land even when it considered it was needed for designated relevant development. For example, there might be cases where the Secretary of State decided that the development should go ahead without public ownership.
What is required here is a very limited power to cover special situations. The amendment therefore works by enabling the Secretary of State to remove the automatic suspension of planning permission where he refuses to confirm a compulsory purchase order. The procedure associated with an order will enable the Secretary of State to consider any special circumstances which might justify refusing allowing development to proceed without his confirming the order. Thus, where the full duty is operating, relevant development without public acquisition can occur only after full consideration of all the issues. Given the principles of the land scheme, this must be the right approach.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Subsequent Lords amendments agreed to.