Power to Give Financial Assistance

Part of Clause 50 – in the House of Commons at 5:45 pm on 14 June 1988.

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Photo of Ian McCartney Ian McCartney , Makerfield 5:45, 14 June 1988

That comment shows the ignorance of Conservative Members about the ownership of derelict land. In London and other urban areas, the overwhelming proportion of such land is owned not by local authorities but by the private sector and by other public sector bodies. The derelict land programme exists because of the work of local authorities. My local authority has the largest reclamation programme of any local authority in Europe. In the main, derelict land has been the by-product of de-industrialisation, when the private sector, having made its profit, gets out and leaves the community to cope with the resulting disaster.