Clause 46 - Powers of entry: notices
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 144, in
clause 46, page 23, line 17, at end insert
'(not being the dwelling in question)'.
One of the hazards of the job on this side of the Committee is that it can become rather difficult to keep pace if the velocity gets too great. Clause 46 deals with notices for power of entry to a dwelling. It provides for notice to be given to the occupier of the dwelling, and subsection (3) deals with interpretation of the phrase ''proper address''. It is necessary to have an appropriate definition of that phrase in order to establish that notice has been properly served. In many cases, the former occupier of a dwelling that has become unoccupied because of a fire will provide the investigating fire officer with a forwarding address; for example, if he has gone to stay at a local hotel or with his granny.
My concern is with subsection (3)(b), which gives the definition
''in any other case, his last known address.''
If the former occupier has not given a forwarding address for official contact, his last known address will likely be the address of the fire-damaged dwelling. It is not satisfactory to allow that a notice has been properly served simply by posting to the last known address, if that address is the fire-damaged premises.
There is already a power under subsection (4) to affix a notice to the subject premises as a fall-back if the person cannot be contacted in any other way. That is a perfectly reasonable last resort power. It is not acceptable to post the notice to the premises, as that is not the same as affixing it prominently. It will probably not be delivered or, if it is, depending on how badly damaged the premises are, it could get completely lost. It would not have the same effect.
The amendment would preclude proper service to the last known address of the former occupier if that address is the damaged premises. I may not have explained its effect very clearly—it is quite a tortuous issue—but I hope that the Under-Secretary appreciates my argument and has some sympathy with it.