Control of Office and Industrial Development Bill

Part of Ballot for Notices of Motions – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 April 1965.

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Photo of Mr James MacColl Mr James MacColl , Widnes 12:00, 14 April 1965

I was developing an argument on the nub of the Amendment—whether or not local authority building should be brought within control. I was going on to look at the problem of how controls would be worked and at the matters to be taken into consideration. The point raised by the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Curran) probably comes under that heading.

I think that there are two ways in which it is necessary to look at the urgent needs of a local authority. The first is the competing claims of different local authorities for the scarce supplies of labour and materials in London. One of the difficulties here is that one of the results of the reorganisation of London government is that almost every one of the new Greater London boroughs is having to find somewhere to house itself.

In the nature of things, often the buildings which are being vacated are not as good as these which are to be built. For instance, in the borough of which I was, until that regrettable date of 1st April, a distinguished alderman, many of the council staff worked in very old private houses which were taken over and, without much conversion, occupied for some 20 years. These will in time be vacated. That accomodation will be nothing like what will be provided in the new buildings. I do not think one could regard it as a balanced swop. The point is that someone has to look at the competing claims of the local authorities in wanting extra premises.

Secondly, even where it is established that a local authority has an urgent need—and I do not deny that local authorities have such needs—someone has to consider whether it needs a new building or whether it can make do in the same way as private people have to make do in finding an existing building. The answers to these questions may vary from place to place and from authority to authority, but they are the right questions to ask.

The only person who can look at the needs of the local authorities and others and at the resources available is the person responsible for looking at the whole trend of office building, which is my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. It is he who has the proper claim.