§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in what circumstances and by what means a compulsory purchase order in respect of a private dwelling can be rescinded. [126914]
§ Mr. Raynsford[holding answer 21 June 2000]: Compulsory purchase of property must normally be authorised by compulsory purchase order.
A compulsory purchase order made by a non-ministerial acquiring authority, such as a local authority, must be submitted for decision to the relevant "confirming authority". This is normally the Secretary of State or Minister responsible to Parliament for the legislation and policies which apply in the particular circumstances. An order is made and confirmed under procedures set out in, and regulations prescribed for the purposes of, the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. There are also rules for public local inquiries held for the purposes of that Act.
449WAn acquiring authority may have resolved to make a compulsory purchase order but, before submitting it formally, they may decide that they do not wish to proceed. In these circumstances, no formal compulsory purchase procedures will have been initiated and the confirming authority will have no function to discharge. Once the acquiring authority have formally submitted the order, they have no formal power to withdraw or rescind it but, in practice, it is possible to overcome this potential difficulty. If an authority have submitted a compulsory purchase formally and then decide that they do not wish to proceed with it, for example because they will no longer need to rely on compulsory powers, the normal practice in my Department is to give a short formal decision declining to confirm the order. This serves both to formally discharge the Secretary of State's statutory function and to remove the imminent "threat" of compulsory purchase of property.
If an order is confirmed, the acquiring authority must make the order operative by serving and publishing notice of the confirmation before they may exercise the compulsory powers authorised by the confirmed order. Once the order is operative, unless there is a successful challenge in the High Court, the acquiring authority have three years in which to exercise the compulsory powers by serving a notice to treat, which period may be extended by agreement, or by completing an alternative procedure vesting title to the property in themselves. Hence, one way of rescinding an order at this stage would be to allow the period to lapse, so that the authority would no longer be authorised to exercise compulsory powers. This may happen where, for example, an order was confirmed subject to an undertaking given by the acquiring authority that they would not implement the order if the owner carried out certain repairs by a certain date. Compensation is payable where a notice to treat lapses.
An acquiring authority may withdraw a notice to treat within six weeks of receiving a detailed notice of an owner's claim for compensation given in response to a notice to treat. If a dispute over compensation is referred to the Lands Tribunal, the acquiring authority may still withdraw their notice to treat within six weeks of the Tribunal's final determination. This may happen where, for example, the amount awarded by the Tribunal is higher than the authority are prepared to pay. In either case, the claimant must be reimbursed certain losses and expenses.