HC Deb 03 August 1976 vol 916 cc1584-5

Lords Amendment: No. 29, in page 31, line 23, at end insert: (4) For the purposes of the preceding subsection any land held by a parish or community council shall be treated as held by the district council whose area includes the area of the parish or community council.

Mr. Guy Barnett

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

As the Bill was drafted, a district council would have been unable to make an application to the court in respect of money paid into court by its predecessor, prior to 1st April 1974, on behalf of a parish or community council because it would no longer hold the land, which would have been transferred on acquisition to the local council, which is not a local authority for the purposes of the clause.

The amendment deals with the point by making clear that in such circumstances the district council can apply to the court even though the land is now held by the parish council or community council. This problem does not arise in respect of acquisitions of land made after 1st April 1974 because in such cases there is no requirement that the land should still be held by a local authority as defined.

Question put and agreed to.

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