Clause 46 - Powers of entry: notices
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I accept entirely the first part of what the Under-Secretary said. He is quite right about the way in which the amendment is phrased: it would be absurd to have a notice served at an address that was known to be out of date. What he did not go on to say was, ''However, we acknowledge the issue that is being raised, and if the hon. Gentleman will withdraw his amendment, we will find a better way of dealing with the problem.'' I still think that there is a problem. It clearly is not appropriate to serve the notice to a fire-damaged premises by post; it is appropriate to pin it on the fire-damaged premises. I urge the hon. Gentleman to think about that. If we believe that it is necessary for notice to be given, it cannot be given by post to an unoccupied, damaged premises. Obviously, there is a
range of damage, but in an extreme case we will be talking about premises that are uninhabitable, and it would not be appropriate for notices to be served by post to them.