New clause 21 - Confirmation by acquiring authority
Planning and Compulsory Purchase (Re-committed) Bill
10:30 am
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
I asked exactly the same question when I saw the provisions. I understand that the reference is to a
''fuel or field garden allotment''
rather than to ''fuel'' and then to a ''field garden allotment''. I am advised that field garden allotments are a specific kind of allotment, and have a long history. I do not think that the provisions will apply in many circumstances. I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman has further details on the subject. They are a specific group of cases for which different procedures apply. Whenever anyone wants to go through the compulsory purchase order process in relation to fuel or field garden allotments, there are different procedures to be gone through—just as with common land or open spaces. That is why they are grouped together with the fuel or field garden allotments.
I should like to say a little more about subsection (2) in general, which might explain the reasons for the provisions. The approach is to exclude compulsory purchase orders in the case of land for which additional procedures may apply involving, for example, the Minister responsible for the policy or special parliamentary procedures. Because those cases will be dependent on people's decisions in other places or because other processes may need to be gone through, it does not make sense simply to be able to transfer those confirmations back to the acquiring authority.
Subsection (2) also excludes compulsory purchase orders involving statutory undertakers—in other words, the utilities—in cases when they argue that the land is needed for operational purposes. Again, those may well involve ministerial decisions and other procedures that need to be gone through.
Subsection (3) limits the scope for giving an acquiring authority the power to confirm its own compulsory purchase order to cases where there are no outstanding objections and where the order can be confirmed without modification. It also requires the confirming order to be satisfied that all the necessary statutory requirements as to the service and
publication of notices have been complied with before contemplating the transfer. The confirming authority will retain confirmation in a series of cases, where, for example, notices have not been complied with, there are objections, or modifications are needed. In all those cases, a judgment may need to be made about whether things have been handled fairly and about what is the balance. In such circumstances, it would not be appropriate for the acquiring authority to make that judgment, because it could be argued that it is not an unbiased judge. Therefore, the confirmation power must lie elsewhere.
The new provision will, even with those restrictions, help to speed up the confirmation of compulsory purchase orders by enabling the confirming authority to give the power of confirmation to the acquiring authority. We also hope that it will provide an incentive that encourages acquiring authorities to prepare compulsory purchase orders carefully, so that they may confirm those themselves. In doing that, they must take care, and ensure that no technical modifications become necessary as a result of errors. We also hope that the provision will encourage acquiring authorities to consult those who are affected by their scheme and discuss with them from an early stage the proposals and any concerns. That will minimise the risk of formal objections once the order is made. Those steps will help to speed up the confirmation process and make it less stressful for those whose land is required.
Subsections (7) and (8) allow the confirming authority to revoke the transfer at any time until the acquiring authority sends the notification. That might become necessary, for example, if the confirming authority received a late objection raising important issues, or if the acquiring authority failed to take any action towards confirmation after a reasonable period of time had elapsed and those affected by the order made representations to the confirming authority about the delay and consequent uncertainty. The procedure is sensible. We hope that it will help to speed up the process in the most straightforward cases that could be handled in such a way.