§ Amendments reported (according to Order).
§ Clause 10:
§ Acquisition of land for purpose of garden cities or town-planning schemes.
§ 10.—(1) Where the Minister is satisfied that any local authority (including a county council) 471 or two or more local authorities jointly, or any authorised association, are prepared to purchase and develop any land as a garden city (including a garden suburb or a garden village), or in regard to which a town-planning scheme may be made for the purpose of a town-planning scheme for the area in which the land is situate, in accordance with a scheme approved by the Minister, and have funds available for the purpose, he may with the consent of the Treasury and after consultation with the Board of Trade, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Minister of Transport, acquire that land on behalf of the authority or association either by compulsion or by agreement in any case in which it appears to him necessary or expedient so to do for the purpose of securing the development of the land as aforesaid, and may do all such things as may be necessary to vest the land so acquired in the local authority or association.
§ (2) The provisions of the Housing Acts, 1890 to 1919, relating to the powers of a local authority to acquire land for the purposes of Part III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, shall apply for the purpose of the acquisition of land by the Minister under this section, and the Minister in exercising his powers of acquiring land under this section shall be subject to the same conditions as are applicable to the acquisition of land under the Housing Acts, 1890 to 1919, by a local authority.
§ (3) A local authority shall have power to acquire land for the purposes of a scheme approved by the Minister under this section, and to develop any land so acquired in accordance with the scheme, and shall have power to borrow, as for the purposes of the Housing Acts, 1890 to 1919, any money required for the purpose of so acquiring or developing any land.
§ (4) In this section "authorised association" means any society, company or body of persons approved by the Minister whose objects include the promotion, formation, or management of garden cities (including garden suburbs and garden villages), and the erection, improvement or management of buildings for the working classes and others, which does not trade for profit or whose constitution forbids payment of any interest or dividend at a higher rate than six per centum per annum.
§
Amendment moved—
Clause 10, page 7, line 8, after the second ("or") insert ("any land").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 7, lines 9 and 10, leave out ("a town planning") and insert ("such a").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
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THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY moved, after subsection (2) in Clause 10, to insert the following proviso—
Provided that in the case of an order for the compulsory acquisition of land on behalf of an authorised association the order shall be laid before each House of Parliament and shall not be confirmed by the Minister unless and until both Houses by resolution have approved the order, nor if any modifications are agreed to by both Houses otherwise than as so modified.
§ The noble Marquess said: I must apologise to your Lordships for not having given notice of this Amendment, but as the Bill only passed through Committee last night it was very difficult to do so. The Amendment has reference to a provision which allows a garden city association to apply to the Minister and the Minister may acquire the land in question on behalf of the garden city company. I said last night in reference to this subject, though on a different clause, that I have no feeling of hostility at all to garden city associations. On the contrary, I have had the honour of being connected with them for a good many years past. But it does seem to me to be rather a strong measure to give them the actual position which a local authority occupies. After all, they are not a local authority, they are not representative of the people, they are not amenable to public opinion. They are a most admirable organisation, partly philanthropic and partly commercial, but they are in no sense representative, and to give them power to go to the Minister and say, "We want this particular piece of land," and that, without any ordinary safeguard, the Minister should be able to give it them, appears to me to be a very strong measure.
§ The provision which was contemplated in the Act of 1909, the principal Act with which we are dealing, that there should be a local Inquiry before the Minister acts, has been struck out during the period of the next two years by the Act which we passed earlier in the session. So that the procedure which was contemplated in the Act of 1909 has been profoundly modified, and, if this clause passes in its present form, will be even more profoundly modified. Instead of the procedure by a local authority and subject to a local Inquiry, we have a procedure by private company without a local Inquiry.
§ I think I have said enough to convince your Lordships that some safeguard is required even though we may view garden city companies with the greatest good will in the world. I therefore have the honour 473 to propose, on page 7, in line 29, at end to insert "Provided that in the case of an order for the compulsory acquisition of land on behalf of an authorised association"—that is, a garden city company, and that is the technical phrase used here—"the Order shall be laid before each House of Parliament and shall not be confirmed by the Minister unless and until both Houses by Resolution have approved the Order, nor if any modifications are agreed to by both Houses otherwise than as so modified."
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Amendment moved—
Page 7, line 29, at end insert the said new proviso.—(The Marquess of Salisbury.)
THE EARL OF ONSLOWI do not think I need say more than that the Government will be very glad to put these words in.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved to insert in the Schedule on page 11, paragraph 6, line 34, after "bonds" the words "and the security therefor." The noble Earl said: This is a drafting Amendment to make it quite clear that, in the regulations governing the issue of local bonds a local authority can issue them on the security of any land or property, in spite of the fact that there is already a charge upon such land or property. The schedule purely contemplates that the security for the local bonds shall be a floating security. This particular point has been raised by the London County Council, but it is obviously of general application.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Then (Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended) Bill read 3a and passed, and returned to the Commons.