§
'In Schedule 1 to the 1975 Act (which specifies lands and heritages as regards which there may be valuation by formula)—
(a) after paragraph 2 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
2A.—(1) Any lands and heritages occupied by a Passenger Transport Executive for any purpose concerned with, or supplementary or incidental to, the carriage of passengers by underground railway; but such lands and heritages do not include office premises not situated on operational land of the Executive.
(2) In subparagraph (1) above—
'office premises' has the same meaning as in paragraph 2(1) of this Schedule; 'operational land' has the same meaning in relation to the Executive as it has in the said paragraph 2(1) in relation to any of the bodies specified in subparagraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) of that paragraph; and 'railway' includes a tramway undertaking."; and
(b) in paragraph 4A, after the words "or (c)," there shall be inserted the words "2A(1),".'.—[Mr. Rifkind.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ Mr. RifkindI beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bryant Godman Irvine)With this we may take new clause 11—Minibus undertaking by islands council—and Government amendment No. 41.
§ Mr. RifkindNew clause 5 will enable the Secretary of State to make formula valuation orders for underground railways used to convey passengers. At present the only underground passenger railway in Scotland is that operated by the Strathclyde passenger transport executive in Glasgow.
The clause proceeds by adding lands and heritages occupied by a transport executive in connection with conveying passengers by underground railway to the list of subjects in schedule 1 to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 which may already be valued by formula.
The Strathclyde assessor and the local authorities have already told the Government that they are content for us to proceed in this way; my right hon. Friend would intend, subject to the enactment of this provision, to consult interested parties on the terms of the formula, and to make the necessary order in time for the next rating revaluation. This consultation, which the Secretary of State is statutorily obliged to undertake, will enable all points of view to be reflected in the order that is finally laid before 688 Parliament for approval. Given the agreement in principle that we have at this stage between the various parties, I do not think that the consultation is likely to be contentious. I commend the new clause to the House.
Mr. DewerWe do not intend to obstruct the clause. There are a number of contentious matters that we want to debate at some length. Therefore, it would be a shame to delay the House now.
The Under-Secretary said that he hoped that the consultations would be over in time for the next revaluation. That is a somewhat cryptic remark in view of clauses 1 and 2 and the announcement of the 1983 revaluation, which we are anxiously awaiting. We hope that there will be some hints about that later.
If we have assurances from the hon. Member, which I shall be pleased to accept, that the matter has been fully discussed in principle, that none of the local authorities that may be involved in the assessors' department has any objection and that there will be further full consultation before the mechanics are settled, we shall be happy to approve the new clause.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.