§ [No. 19]
§ After Clause 3, leave out Clause 4 and insert the following new clause:
§ Transitional provision for Scotland
§ ".—(1) Where before the passing of this Act an agreement is entered into, relating to the payment of rent, between the site operator and the occupier of lands and heritages which consist of a pitch for a leisure caravan on the site and which for the year 1975–76 are separately entered in the valuation roll, the site operator may recover from that occupier during the currency of such agreement, in addition to the rent payable thereunder, a sum which represents the amount of rates payable by the site operator in respect of the site which is reasonably attributable to the pitch of such occupier and which but for the enactment of section 3 above would not be payable by the site operator.
§ (2) Subsections (5), (9) and (10) of section 3 above shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section."
§ 8.50 p.m.
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 19. The purpose of this new clause is to allow the site operator to recover from a caravanner, in addition to any rent payable for a pitch, a sum representing so much of the rate burden transferred to the operator by Clause 3(1) as is reasonably attributable to the pitch.
In such cases in England and Wales it can be expected that the valuation officer would delay his discretion to create the single unit of assessment, but such a discretion is not available to Scottish assessors. The new clause is therefore 1643 designed to give all possible protection to people in Scotland who enter into fixed bargains before the Bill passes into law. The noble Lord opposite will recognise that this is a Peter and Paul situation. I should like to point out that the Opposition in another place received this Amendment with almost wild acclaim.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Baroness Birk.)
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, it is a little late to be wild and possibly the wrong House in which to practise such strange procedures, best I believe that this is the last Amendment to which the noble Baroness will speak on this Bill. Therefore, I should like to thank her for the patient courtesy and lucidity with which she explained at all stages of the Bill what was going on and, with due respect, to remind her of the way in which she referred to it as a simple little Bill at the outset and the stages by which we managed to disillusion her of this. We have now achieved what we set out to do, a little late, and the Bill goes on to the Statute Book. I hope that it will prove of benefit to all who live under its regis and that they will feel suitably grateful to the noble Baroness for all her work.
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his kind words and 1644 co-operation. It was rather like Topsy, it grew and grew. I must confess that I added to the complication myself in order to make it that which I feel it has turned out to be, a better and fairer Bill at the end of the day. I thank the noble Lord.