HOUSING BILL

HL Deb 03 August 1971 vol 323 cc1006-9

2.55 p.m.

LORD SANDFORD

My Lords, I beg to move that this Report be now received.

Moved, That the Report be now received.—(Lord Sandford.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

Clause 1 [Housing improvement in development areas and intermediate areas]:

LORD SANDFORD moved Manuscript Amendment No. 1: Page 1, line 12, leave out from beginning to (" before ") and insert (" the works have not been begun ").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg to move the first of five Manuscript Amendments. Perhaps I ought to explain that these Amendments are all consequential upon the acceptance by the Government of the Amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Derwent yesterday. The purpose of this Amendment is to give more precision in two respects to the Amendment made to Clause 1(1)(a) at the Committee stage. The use of the term"works"in place of"work"in that Amendment will bring it in line with the drafting of the earlier part of the clause. This applies the Act to"works eligible for financial assistance"and so on. The omission of the phrase"on the improvements"in the Amendment made at Committee stage is designed to avoid any risk of misunderstanding. As the Amendment stands, it might be thought that the provision related only to works eligible for assistance by means of a discretionary improvement grant. In fact, it applies to works eligible for assistance by means of all three types of grant: standard (basic amenities) and special (for houses in multi-occupation) as well as improvement grants. I beg to move.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, may I thank my noble friend and his advisers? We improved the Bill with the help of noble Lords opposite and behind him, but, obviously, nobody expected that the drafting would be correct. I am very grateful to my noble friend and to his advisers for getting the Bill in the proper form. I only regret that his advisers—at any rate the noble Lord himself was sitting up late last night—may have had to sit up late. I apologise for that; but it was well worth it. They improved the Bill. So far as I am concerned, I agree with the other Amendments, but this particular Amendment is the main one applying to the Amendment we passed yesterday.

LORD GREENWOOD OF ROSSENDALE

My Lords, I should like to add our thanks to those of Lord Derwent to the Under-Secretary. We are all glad that the Government have resigned themselves to accepting the views of the House, and although a much more wide-spread resignation would be even more welcome we are at this stage grateful for small mercies. We appreciate the help and efforts of the noble Lord, and I should like to endorse what Lord Derwent said about the civil servants. We placed a considerable strain on them at very short notice when they are already overworked and must be looking forward, as we are, to the Recess.

LORD FLETCHER

My Lords, may I add my congratulations and thanks to the noble Lord for the wisdom shown in acceding to the wishes expressed by your Lordships yesterday.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 2 [Increase in financial assistance]:

LORD SANDFORD moved Manuscript Amendment No. 2: Page 3, line 21, at end insert: ("(2) Where this Act applies, so much of Section 5(1) of the Housing Act 1969 as requires the local authority to fix the amount of an improvement grant at the time when they approve the application for the grant shall not apply, and the amount fixed at that time may be varied by the local authority, subject to the provisions of the said Act, at any subsequent time.")

The noble Lord said: An Amendment of this sort, again consequential on the Amendment made yesterday in Committee by my noble friend Lord Derwent, is required to make works eligible for assistance under the provisions of the Bill, provided they had not been started by the relevant date, June 23, 1971. The Amendment allows a local authority, where this Bill applies, to vary at any subsequent time the amount of grant fixed at the time of approval, in the normal way of settling the rate of grant, subject to the provisions of the Bill. Without this Amendment, a local authority who had already approved a grant under Section 5(1) of the Housing Act 1969 and, as they are required to do under the terms of that subsection, had at the same time fixed the amount of the grant, would have no power to fix a higher amount under the provisions of the Bill with which we are now dealing. This is because, having given the original approval, they would have discharged their statutory function so far as the particular application was concerned (a point I made in my letter to my noble friend) and would have no power to vary the terms of that approval subsequently. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD SANDFORD moved Manuscript Amendment No. 3: Page 3, line 42, after (" and ") insert"begun and ").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is an Amendment directly consequential on the Amendment made to Clause 1(1)(9) at Committee stage, as now amended. The latter part of subsection (3) of the clause makes clear that for the purpose of the higher rate of grant towards the cost of environmental improvements in a general improvement area, expenditure on providing land for this purpose incurred during the period for which assistance is given under the Bill will be eligible, equally with the cost of works on environmental improvement, even although in the period no works are carried out on the land acquired. It is necessary that this provision should repeat the new provision incorporated in Clause 1(1)(a), by which entitlement to the higher rates of grants is made to depend on the date of commencement of the works instead of the making of the application. Precisely the same change is made for the same reason in the parallel Scottish provision in Clause 3(3). I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 3 [Increase in financial assistance in Scotland]:

LORD SANDFORD moved Manuscript Amendment No. 4:

Page 4, line 30, at end insert— (" ( ) Where this Act applies, so much of section 29(1) and of section 42(3) of the said Act of 1968 as requires the local authority to fix the amount of an improvement grant or a standard grant at the time when they approve the application for the grant shall not apply, and the amount fixed at that time may be varied by the local authority, subject to the provisions of the said Act, at any subsequent time.")

The noble Lord said: I think your Lordships will readily see that this Amendment applies the effect of Amendment No. 2 to Scotland, and the next Amendment I shall read applies the effect of Manuscript Amendment No. 3 also to Scotland. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD SANDFORD moved Manuscript Amendment No. 5: Page 4, line 43, after (" and ") insert (" begun and ").

The noble Lord said: This produces in Scotland exactly the same effect as Amendment No. 3 produces in England and Wales. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Then, Standing Order No. 42 having been suspended (pursuant to the Resolution of July 22), Bill read 3^a, with the Amendments, and passed, and returned to the Commons.