HC Deb 15 April 1981 vol 3 cc198-9W
Mr. Latham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether any orders, regulations, circulars, directions, development advice notes or guidance notes dealing with the Community Land Act 1975 have been issued by his Department since 2 November 1979; if so, whether he will list them; and whether he will ensure that there will be no further publications.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The information is as follows:

Guidance Notes to Local Authorities

Termination of Community Land Scheme, 20 February 1980, GNLA/22.

Statutory Instruments

Community Land: The Compulsory Acquisition by Public Authorities (Compensation) (Revocation) Order 1980, No. 1172. Date of coming into operation—6 August 1980.

Directions

The Community Land Accounts (England) (Amendment) Direction 1980, issued on 20 February 1980, Annexed to GNLA/22. Also, over 100 special directions issued to individual authorities to make accounting adjustments in connection with the valuation of land still on hand when the accounts were closed.

The only further publication envisaged is an appointed day order repealing the residual sections of the Community Land Act that were temporarily retained under schedule 17 to the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980. These sections will be repealed when the Comptroller and Auditor General has completed his reports to Parliament.

Mr. Latham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will give such information as is available to him about the progress to date of local authorities which acquired land under the Community Land Act 1975 in disposing of that land; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Giles Shaw

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 4 February.—[Vol. 998, c. 285.]

Mr. Latham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will set out in tabular form the final figures for (a) the number of acres and (b) the price of land acquired by local authorities in England under the Community Land Act on the same basis as the provisional estimates given by the previous Under-Secretary of State in his reply to the hon. Member for Melton on 26 November 1979, Official Report, c. 542, updating the information to years since 1978–79, where information is available.

Mr. Giles Shaw

Total expenditure on land acquisition was £22.0 million in 1978–79 and £9.8 million in 1979–80. Due to the final termination of the community land scheme on 31 March 1980 and the staff and expenditure reductions this made possible, central records of the acreage of land acquired and its proposed use have not been maintained.

Mr. Latham

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now give final details for (a) 1978–79 and (b) succeeding years, where appropriate, of the total cost of local authority staffing and administration costs charged out to community land accounts.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The information is as follows:

1978–79: £3.4 million
1979–80 £2.1 million

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