HL Deb 30 October 1980 vol 414 cc616-21

15. Paragraphs 6 to 13 and 16 to 39 of Schedule 24 to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 shall have effect, in relation to orders under section 136 above, subject to the modifications specified in paragraphs 16 to 20 below.

16. Any reference to a general vesting declaration shall be treated as a reference to an order under that section.

17. The references in paragraphs 6 and 7 to the end of the period specified in a general vesting declaration shall be treated as references to the date on which such an order comes into force and the reference in paragraph 9 to the acquiring authority having made a general vesting declaration shall be treated as a reference to such an order having come into force.

18. In paragraph 6—

  1. (a) the reference to every person on whom, under section 17 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1845, the acquiring authority could have served a notice to treat, shall be treated as a reference to every person whose interest in the land to which such an order relates is vested by the order in the urban development corporation: and
  2. (b) paragraph (a) shall be omitted.

19. The reference in paragraph 20(2) to the date on which the notice required by paragraph 4 is served on any person shall be treated as a reference to the date on which such an order comes into force.

20. In paragraph 29—

  1. (a) sub-paragraph (1)(a) shall be omitted; and
  2. (b) the reference in sub-paragraph (1)(b) to the date on which a person first had knowledge of the execution of the general vesting declaration shall be treated as a reference to the date on which an order under section 136 above came into force.

21. The Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 shall have effect in relation to orders under section 136 above subject to the modifications specified in paragraphs 22 to 26 below.

22. References to the date of service of a notice to treat shall be treated as references to the date on which an order under that section comes into force.

23. Section 25(2) shall be treated as if for the words "the authority proposing to acquire it have served a notice to treat in respect thereof, or an agreement has been made for the sale thereof to that authority" there were substituted the words "an order section 136 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 vesting the land in which the interest subsists in an urban development corporation has come into force, or an agreement has been made for the sale of the interest to such a corporation."

24. In section 30— (a) subsection (2) shall be treated as if at the end of paragraph (c) there were added the words or (d) where an order has been made under section 136 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 vesting the land in which the interest subsists in an urban development corporation."; and (b) subsection (3) shall be treated as if in paragraph (a) the words "or (2)(d)" were inserted after the words "subsection (2)(b)".

25. Any reference to a notice to treat in section 45(2) shall be treated as a reference to an order under section 136 above.

26. In Schedule 2, paragraph 1(2)(a) shall be treated as if the words "or the coming into force of an order under section 136 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 for the vesting of the land in an urban development corporation" were inserted after the word "land".").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, this new schedule is needed because of the amendment we have tabled to Clause 136 (Amendment No. 164), which we shall come to shortly. As drafted we believe that Clause 136 lacks sufficient detail to make the vesting of land provision workable. We therefore consider it essential to use on the more complex provisions on vesting declarations which already exist in other statutes.

Amendment No. 164 will insert new subsections (4) and (4A) into Clause 136. New subsection (4) will provide that a vesting order made under Clause 136 shall have the same effect as a vesting declaration under Section 30 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1968. The new schedule proposed by this amendment will make the necessary technical modifications to Schedule 3 and 3A of the 1968 Act so that Section 30 can have effect in relation to vesting orders made under Clause 136. Amendment No. 164 and this new schedule do not extend the scope of Clause 136. They simply ensure that the existing statutes on land compensation and vesting declaration apply smoothly and without any confusion to land vested under this clause. With this assurance I commend this amendment to your Lordships. I beg to move.

Clause 133 [Exclusion of functions]:

Lord BELLWIN moved Amendment No. 161: Page 115, line 6, leave out ("are exercisable by urban development corporations") and insert ("may be exercisable by an urban development corporation").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, in speaking to this amendment I would also speak to Amendment No. 162. This amendment is needed in order to make it clear that the power to specify the functions of individual UDCs could be exercised without having to make a fresh constitution order under Clause 131. It has always been our intention that it should be possible to modify the functions of a UDC from time to time in light of the prevailing conditions in the urban development area and in the country generally. Without this amendment there would be doubt whether it would be possible to do this except by constituting the UDC afresh each time. I hope, therefore, that your Lordships will agree that this is a sensible amendment. I should stress that the amendment does not remove the requirement for affirmative approval by each House before the UDCs functions can be modified. That safeguard would remain unchanged. I beg to move.

Lord BELLWIN moved Amendment No. 162: Page 115, line 11, at end insert— ("(2) An order under section 131 above may amend any provision of a previous order under that section which was included in that order by virtue of subsection (1) above. (3) Nothing in subsection (2) above shall prejudice the operation of section 14 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (power to amend orders etc.)".).

Lord BELLWIN moved Amendment No. 163: After Clause 135, insert the following new clause:

("Consultation with local authorities

—(1) An urban development corporation shall prepare a code of practice as to consultation of the relevant local authorities about the exercise of its powers.

(2) In this section "the relevant local authorities" means local authorities the whole or any part of whose area is included in the urban development area.

(3) Preparation of the code shall be completed not later than the expiration of the period of 12 months from the date of the establishment of the corporation.

(4) A corporation may from time to time revise the whole or any part of its code.

(5) A corporation shall prepare and revise its code in consultation with the relevant local authorities.".).

The noble Lord said: My Lords, I am confident that this new clause and the associated amendment to Schedule 29 will be welcomed. These amendments honour commitments which Ministers have given about the lacunae in the Bill on the question of consultation between UDCs and local authorities in the area. We regard a good working relationship between UDCs and local authorities as crucial to the success of this initiative, and we hope the same degree of good cooperation can be achieved in UDAs as has been experienced in many of the new towns. These amendments write into the Bill a requirement for UDCs to devise a code of consultation with the local authorities in the area. UDCs will then be required to report annually on how the consultation arrangement has been operated during the year. Your Lordships will see from our amendment to Schedule 29 that we shall require the UDCs to report such consultation annually, and this is, therefore, an important provision. I beg to move.

Viscount SIMON

My Lords, may I ask whether there is a mistake in the second line of subsection (1) which refers to a code of practice as to consultation of the relevant local authorities". Should it not be "with"?

Lord BELLWIN

My Lords, I should think that is right. May I thank the noble Viscount for that? If that should not be so, of course, I will come back, but it sounds absolutely right, and I am grateful to the noble Viscount.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Lord Jacques)

My Lords, the Question is that this amendment, with that qualification, be agreed to.

Clause 136 [Vesting by order in corporation]:

Lord BELLWIN moved Amendment No. 164: Page 117, line 4, leave out from beginning to ("shall") in line 19, and insert— ("(4) An order under this section shall have the same effect as a declaration under section 30 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1968 or, in Scotland section 278 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 (both of which relate to general vesting declarations) except that, in relation to such orders, the enactments mentioned in Schedule [Vesting of land in urban development corporations] shall have effect subject to the modifications specified in that Schedule. (4A) Compensation under the Land Compensation Act 1961 or, in Scotland, the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963, as applied by subsection (4) above and Schedule [Vesting of land in urban development corporations] to this Act.").

The noble Lord said: My Lords, we have already discussed the new schedule provided for by Amendment No. 159, which is associated with this amendment. As I explained, these are technical amendments which apply the provisions of existing statutes on land compensation and general vesting declarations to vesting orders made under Clause 136. We believe that these amendments will remove uncertainties about the effects of vesting orders which, if the clause were left in its present form, could cause difficulties.

Lord BELLWIN moved Amendment No. 164XA: After Clause 139, insert the following new clause:

("Land compensation

.—(1) The following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Land Compensation Act 1961 (descriptions of actual or prospective development of which account is not to be taken in assessing compensation or the effect of which is to reduce compensation payable in respect of adjacent land in the same ownership which has benefited by the development) and after paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 (which makes similar provision for Scotland):—

"4A. Where any of the relevant land forms part of an area designated as an urban development area by an order under section 122 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980. Development of any land other than the relevant land, in the course of the development or re-development of that area or as an urban development area."

(2) At the end of Part II of Schedule 1 to the Land Compensation Act 1961 there shall be added:—

Back to
Forward to