'(1) The Acquisition of Land Act 1981 (c.67) (the ''1981 Act'') is amended as follows.

(2) After section 14 there is inserted—

''14A Confirmation by acquiring authority

(1) The power to confirm an order may be exercised by the acquiring authority (instead of the confirming authority) if—

(a) the confirming authority has notified the acquiring authority to that effect, and

(b) the notice has not been revoked.

(2) But this section does not apply to an order in respect of land—

(a) falling within section 16(1) or paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 3, or

(b) forming part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment for the purposes of section 19.

(3) The confirming authority may give notice under subsection (1) if it is satisfied—

(a) that the notice requirements have been complied with,

(b) that no objection has been made in relation to the proposed confirmation or that all objections have been withdrawn, and

(c) that the order is capable of being confirmed without modification.

(4) An objection is an objection made by any person (whether or not a person mentioned in section 12(2)), including an objection which is disregarded.

(5) The power to confirm an order under subsection (1) does not include any power—

(a) to confirm the order with modifications, or

(b) to confirm only a part of the order.

(6) The acquiring authority must notify the confirming authority as soon as reasonably practicable after it has determined whether or not to confirm the order.

(7) The confirming authority may revoke a notice given by it under subsection (1).

(8) But a notice may not be revoked if the determination has already been made and notified by the acquiring authority under subsection (6).

(9) An order confirmed by the acquiring authority under subsection (1) is to have the same effect as if it were confirmed by the confirming authority.

(10) Notices under this section must be in writing.

(11) Notice requirements and disregarded must be construed in accordance with section 13.''

(3) The amendments made by this section do not apply to orders of which notice has been published under section 11 of the 1981 Act before commencement of this section.'.—[Yvette Cooper.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

New clause 21 inserts new section 14A into the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 to enable a confirming authority to transfer to the acquiring authority the power to decide whether to confirm an unopposed compulsory purchase order. Subsections (2) and (3) of new section 14A limit the circumstances in which that transfer can be made.

I dare to intervene at this point because what I have to say is directly related to subsection (2). Paragraph (b) says:

''forming part of a common, open space or fuel or field garden allotment''.

What is meant by ''or fuel''? I do not understand.

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.

Perhaps I can help my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet. On reading the paragraph that deals with ''fuel'', I, too, thought that it was a mistake. That paragraph arises from section 19 of the principal Act, which deals with commons and open spaces. Under subsection (4) a

''fuel or field garden allotment''

means any allotment set out as a fuel allotment, or a field garden allotment, under the Inclosure Acts 1845 and 1842. [Interruption.] I was not intending to get at my hon. Friend—I am merely trying to help him. That subsection was intended to apply to such things as opencast coal mines, electricity apparatus and underground storage, including gas storage, and so forth, as was made clear.

My hon. Friend will be interested to know that fuel allotments have not yet reached Chipping Barnet. I am sure that they will set the place alight when they do.

My hon. Friend may not be aware of them—they may be so secret that they do not exist. We have, of course, discussed that already.

Seriously, though, we welcome new clause 21, but I should like to ask the Minister one question. The new clause is, in a sense, making it easier for an acquiring authority to operate a compulsory purchase order. We must be careful where people's interests are being compulsorily acquired. Although that is a serious matter, we have not touched on the principles of compulsory purchase this morning. Where we are making it easier, we should build appropriate safeguards into the legislation that we are making. I am concerned that subsection (4) says:

''An objection is made by any person (whether or not a person mentioned in section 12(2)), including an objection which is disregarded.''

I accepted the explanation when we discussed it in a different context under 12(2), but where we are making it easier for an acquiring authority to operate, and if there is any objection, the acquiring authority should not have the power—it should go to a confirming authority. Perhaps the Minister will consider that carefully. I am a little bit concerned about that subsection.

Let me clarify what I understand to be the position with regard to the point that the hon. Gentleman raised. I will be happy to look further into the matter if that is necessary.

First, where objections are disregarded because they are to do with compensation rather than the nature of the compulsory purchase order, the consultation process takes place in exactly the same way, so people's interests are not harmed at all by the decision for the confirming authority to pass it back to the acquiring authority. Secondly, we have structured this clause differently, so that there is a fresh approach from that which was previously taken. We are not simply referring to there being remaining objections from those who have a statutory authority. One cannot transfer the confirming power back to the acquiring authority even if there is an objection—including one that has been disregarded. Subsection (4) states:

''An objection is an objection made by any person (whether or not a person mentioned in section 12(2)), including an objection which is disregarded.''

The new clause does what the hon. Gentleman wants it to do. When people's interests are being balanced, it is important that a proper independent judgment is taken. We would not want concerns to be raised that a judgment was being made about people's interests by someone who was effectively a party to that judgment or had an interest. That was the reason for making it more difficult to transfer confirming power back to the acquiring authority in these circumstances.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.