Part of Orders of the Day — Housing Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 April 1964.
No. I am glad to be able to make this clear to the hon. Member for Motherwell (Mr. Lawson), who was not a member of the Standing Committee. The object was to clarify the fact that this was the position in response to requests from hon. Members opposite. It was in response to their requests that this should be spelt out that we tabled a series of Amendments. But before the matter was raised in Committee we were perfectly clear that this was the position and that this kind of conflict need not and, in our opinion, would not arise. It was to make it absolutely clear that if such a conflict arose the local authorities would be able to object and be heard as they should be that this was written into the Bill.
The hon. Member for Central Ayrshire asked about planning. The position is that all the normal planning requirements would have to be observed in the usual way. I am glad to be able to set the hon. Member's mind at rest and to be able to confirm his view.
10.45 p.m.
The main objects of the S.S.H.A. are to relieve local authorities of the financial, administrative and technical burdens of house building and the proposed new power is to relieve them also of the burden of acquiring land where that has to be done compulsorily. I hope that hon. Members, whose views I have listened to—and I quite understand what has inspired them—will accept that this is not some sinister move to give the S.S.H.A. power which would immediately bring it into conflict with the local authorities, but simply something which, in the problem of housing in Scotland, may provide even more houses where they are needed, to assist the local authorities and to give the S.S.H.A. yet another function in which it can help not only local authorities, but the housing problem in Scotland generally.