§ Mr. Austin WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the contents of his press statement of 29 April 1994, concerning a constituent of the hon. Member for Woolwich oii abiding by the statute strictly and his subsequent statement on the options open to his Department;
(2) if he will make a statement on the case of Mr. David Hernandez-Purnell.
§ Mr. Norris[holding answer 28 November 1994]: These are operational matters for the Highways Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. John Austin-Walker dated 1 December 1994:
The Minister promised that I would write to you about the matter you raised in your two Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State concerning Mr. David Hernandez-Purnell.This has proved to be a difficult case but it does appear that we are now very close to reaching an agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez- Purnell on the level of compensation for the property and its development value. That would leave claims under the heading of disturbance to be agreed, or failing agreement to be referred to the Lands Tribunal. The Treasury Solicitor has now written to Mr. Hernandez-Purnell on our behalf offering to settle at a price Mr. Hernandez-Purnell has already suggested subject only to Mr. Hernandez-Purnell agreement to legally completing the sale to the Secretary of State. I understand Mr. Hernandez-Purnell is prepared to proceed on this basis.You referred to a press statement by the Secretary of State. I am not aware of any press statement by the Secretary of State on 29 April or any other date in connection with Mr. Hernandez-Purnell's case. Mr. Hernandez-Purnell has invited comment on a statement he quotes in his letter of 13 November addressed to the Treasury Solicitor and which he has, I understand, copied to you. That statement is part of a fuller briefing note which was supplied on or around 29 April to a member of the press at her request by the Highways Agency. I enclose a copy of the full note from which you will see that we are dealing with the question of Mr. Hernandez-Purnell's mortgages. The strict legal position is that the Highways Agency on making an advance payment of compensation to Mr. Hernandez-Purnell (or any one else for that matter) did not, nor does not, have to discharge any existing mortgage before completion. However, in order to facilitate a practical and sensible resolution to that part of the dispute between Mr. Hernandez-Purnell and the Highways Agency, we were prepared to redeem Mr. Hernandez-Purnell's mortgages in this exceptional case. The use of the word "illegal" in briefing already referred to is unfortunate, when what was meant of course was extra statutory.