§ 19. Mr. McLoughlinasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the powers available to him for directing public bodies to sell their surplus land.
§ Mr. RidleyI am using the relevant powers to encourage, and where necessary to direct, public owners of unused and underused land to dispose of it. However, in view of the amount of such land and the time it is taking to bring it back into use, I am considering what further powers may be necessary to ensure that surplus land is put to good use.
§ 38. Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the performance of statutory undertakings in disposing of their unused and underused land.
§ Sir George YoungNo. Statutory undertakers and nationalised industries have a financial incentive to dispose of underused or surplus land in their ownership. There is, however, always scope to improve the rate of disposal, and where necessary my right hon. Friend will consider using the powers available to him under part X of the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980 to direct disposal of unused and underused publicly owned land.
§ 59. Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the number of times he has used his powers under section 98 of the Local Government Act 1980 to direct (a) local authorities and (b) statutory undertakers to sell surplus land.
§ Sir George YoungOn 16 July my right hon. Friend, under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, directed the owners of four sites, entered on the registers of unused and underused land, to dispose of their interest in the land. This brings the total of such directions issued to 29.
259WThe owners of these sites have all been local authorities. Together with ministerial colleagues my right hon. Friend is keeping under review the performance of other public bodies in bringing unused and underused land back into use or disposing of it.