HL Deb 20 June 1977 vol 384 cc399-402

3.10 p.m.

Report received.

Clause 5 [power of councils to acquire Lordships and conditions as to valuation]:

The Earl of KINNOULL moved manuscript Amendment No. 1A:

Page 2, line 32, at end insert— ("( ) The price for transfer to the council under subsection (2) above shall be settled by the independent valuer in accordance with the following rules—

  1. (a) the value of the lordship shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be taken to be the amount which the lordship if sold in the open market by a willing seller might be expected to realise;
  2. (b) no account shall be taken of any depreciation of the value of any land comprised in the lordship which is attributable to the fact that (whether by way of allocation or other particulars contained in the current development or by any other means) an indication has been given that the land is, or is likely to be, acquired by an authority possessing compulsory purchase powers.")

The noble Earl said: My Lords, I beg to move manuscript Amendment No. 1A. Perhaps I could explain that it has arisen at fairly short notice following the very helpful advice I received from the Department of the noble Baroness, Lady Birk. All the Amendments at the Report stage of this Bill are tidying up Amendments, following the helpful points made in Committee on 23rd May. The House will recall that Clause 5 of the Bill gives parish councils the right to acquire lordships of the manor under certain limited conditions. Under the provisions of Clause 5 the terms of sale are described.

My noble friend Lord Sandford, who sadly cannot be with us today, quite properly raised in Committee a number of points on Clause 5 concerning rights to compensation. The result of this is manuscript Amendment No. 1A, which seeks to ensure that the seller of the lordship does not suffer any loss in value of the lordship by selling to the parish council. Paragraph (a) of the Amendment confirms the basis of the value of the sale to be the value in the open market, if sold by a willing seller. Indeed, it is in similar terms to Section 5 of the Land Compensation Act 1961. Paragraph (b), again under the Land Compensation Act, covers the problem of the depreciation that might occur because a local authority has its eyes on some future plan for taking part of that land. I believe that these points cover those which were raised in Committee by my noble friend. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 6 [Application of certain Acts to manorial records]:

The Earl of KINNOULL moved to leave out Clause 6.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, Clause 6 was inserted in the Bill during the Committee stage to try to strengthen the protection of the old manorial records. Since then there have been very helpful discussions between the Departments of the noble Baroness, Lady Birk, and the Master of the Rolls and, indeed, the Promoters, and it has been decided that this clause is unnecessary. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 8 [Interpretation]:

The Earl of KINNOULL moved Amendment No. 2: Page 3, line 24, fter ("marriage") insert ("or by gift, settlement").

The noble Earl said: My Lords, again this Amendment covers a point which was raised by my noble friend Lord Clitheroe during the Committee stage. The House will recall that Clause 8 covers certain cases which were not included in the Bill. My noble friend particularly asked that cases such as gifts or settlements should be included, and I am happy to include these in the Bill. I beg to move.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 9 [Short title and extent]:

The Earl of KINNOULL moved Amendment No. 3: Page 3, line 35, after ("of") insert ("Lordships of").

The noble Earl said: My Lords, this Amendment concerns the Short Title of the Bill. Again it arises from a point made by my noble friend Lord Sandford when he queried the Short Title. I am advised that, strictly speaking, "manor" is a lordship, whereas "Lordship" —as many of my noble friends will know, does not necessarily infer the ownership of a manor. The purpose of a Short Title is to be as explicit as possible as to the purposes of a Bill. I am happy, however, to meet my noble friend's wishes, and the purpose of this Amendment is so to do. I beg to move.

Lord SANDYS

My Lords, in the absence of my noble friend Lord Sandford I should like to thank my noble friend Lord Kinnoull for bringing forward this Amendment which has his support. The alteration of the Short Title will be invaluable in the examination by another place of the Bill, because it indicates a difference from what we have at present.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.