Land Commission Act 1967
| Year | 1967 |
Land Commission Act 1967
1967 CHAPTER 1
An Act to provide for the establishment of a Land Commission, to make provision as to the finances of the Commission and to confer on the Commission powers to acquire, manage and dispose of land; to impose a betterment levy in respect of land; to make further provision as to compensation in respect of land acquired by authorities possessing compulsory purchase powers. to amend section 28 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Finance Act 1931; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[1st February 1967]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Constitution and Finances of LandCommission
1 The Land Commission.
(1) There shall be established a body of Commissioners to be called the Land Commission (in this Act referred to as ‘the Commission’) who, on and after such day as may be appointed for the purposes of this section by an order made by the Ministers (in this Act referred to as ‘the first appointed day’), shall perform the functions assigned to the Commission by this Act.
(2) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Commission.
(3) The Commission—
(a ) in the performance of their functions under Part II of this Act shall comply with such directions, whether of a general or a specific character, and
(b ) in the performance of their other functions under this Act shall comply with such directions of a general character,
as may be given to them by the appropriate Minister or Ministers.
(4) The functions of the Commission, and of their officers and servants, shall be performed on behalf of the Crown.
(5) In Part II of Schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 (bodies of which all members are disqualified under that Act) in its application to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom there shall be inserted at the appropriate point in alphabetical order the entry: ‘The Land Commission’.
2 Land Acquisition and Management Fund.
(1) There shall be established under the control of the Commission a fund to be called the Land Acquisition and Management Fund (in this Part of this Act referred to as ‘the fund’) into which the Commission shall pay—
(a ) all sums received by them in consideration of any disposition of an interest in land made by the Commission;
(b ) all other sums received by them by virtue of their ownership of any interest in land;
(c ) any sum required to be paid into the fund by virtue of any provision of Part II of this Act; and
(d ) all sums received by them in pursuance of the next following section.
(2) All expenses incurred by the Commission in the performance of their functions under Part II of this Act, other than administrative expenses, shall be paid out of the fund.
(3) There shall be paid out of the fund into the Exchequer such sums as may from time to time be estimated, in accordance with directions given by the Treasury, to represent—
(a ) administrative expenses incurred by the Commission in the performance of their functions under Part II of this Act, and
(b ) expenses incurred by government departments (except the Postmaster General) in the provision of premises, facilities or services for the Commission, in so far as the provision of any such premises, facilities or services is attributable to the functions of the Commission under Part II of this Act.
(4) The Ministers may at any time, with the consent of the Treasury, direct the payment out of the fund into the Exchequer of any sum comprised in the fund which appears to them to be surplus to the requirements of the fund.
(5) Where an interest in land is acquired by the Commission (whether compulsorily or by agreement) any expenses incurred by the Commission in connection with the assessment of levy (in accordance with Part III of this Act) in respect of the disposition of that interest to the Commission shall, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, be treated as included among the administrative expenses incurred by the Commission in acquiring that interest.
3 Advances out of Consolidated Fund.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the Treasury may from time to time advance out of the Consolidated Fund to the Commission, for the purposes of the fund, such sums as the Commission may request.
(2) The aggregate amount outstanding by way of principal in respect of sums advanced to the Commission under this section shall not at any time exceed 45 million, or such larger sum, not exceeding 75 million, as the Ministers may by order made with the consent of the Treasury direct.
(3) The Treasury may, for the purpose of providing any sums to be advanced under this section out of the Consolidated Fund or any part of such sums, or of providing for the replacement of sums so advanced, raise money in any manner in which they are authorised to raise money under the National Loans Act 1939 ; and any securities created and issued for that purpose shall be deemed for all purposes to have been created and issued under that Act.
(4) Any sums advanced to the Commission under this section shall be repaid by the Commission out of the fund into the Exchequer in such manner and at such times, and with interest thereon at such rates, as the Treasury may direct.
(5) All sums paid into the Exchequer under the last preceding subsection shall be issued out of the Consolidated Fund at such times as the Treasury may direct, and shall be applied by the Treasury as follows, that is to say—
(a ) so much of those sums as represents principal shall be applied in redeeming or paying off debt of such description as the Treasury think fit; and
(b ) so much of those sums as represents interest shall be applied towards meeting such part of the annual charges for the National Debt as represents interest.
(6) No order shall be made under this section unless a draft of the order has been laid before the Commons House of Parliament and approved by a resolution of that House.
4 General financial provisions.
(1) All expenses incurred by the Commission in consequence of this Act, except—
(a ) such expenses as by virtue of section 2(2) of this Act are to be paid out of the fund, and
(b ) the principal amount of any sum which the Commission are required to refund under Part III of this Act,
shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(2) Subject to the next following subsection, all sums received by the Commission by virtue of this Act, except such sums as are specified in section 2(1) of this Act, shall be paid into the Exchequer.
(3) Where the Commission are required to refund any sum under Part III of this Act, they may deduct the principal amount of that sum from the sums falling to be paid into the Exchequer under the last preceding subsection; and the Commission may retain any amount deducted by virtue of this subsection.
(4) There shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament any expenses incurred by any government department (except the Postmaster General) in the provision of premises, facilities or services for the Commission, not being expenses required by or under any other enactment to be defrayed in some other manner.
5 Reports and accounts of Commission.
(1) The Commission shall, at such time in each year as the Ministers may with the approval of the Treasury direct, send to the Ministers a report on the performance of their functions during the preceding financial year.
(2) Any such report shall set out any direction given to the Commission under this Part of this Act during the financial year to which the report relates, except any direction in respect of which there has been notified to the Commission the opinion of the appropriate Minister or Ministers that it should be omitted in the interests of national security.
(3) The Ministers shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of every report sent to them under this section.
(4) The Commission shall in respect of each financial year prepare, in such form as the Treasury may direct, an account showing—
(a ) the sums required by section 2 or section 3 of this Act to be paid into and out of the fund, and
(b ) the sums received by the Commission by virtue of Part III of this Act,
and shall send the account to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than the end of November following the financial year to which it relates; and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on the account and lay copies of it, together with his report, before each House of Parliament.
Part II
Acquisition, Management and Disposal of Land
Acquisition
6 General powers of acquisition.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, on and after the first appointed day the Commission shall have power to acquire by agreement, or, on being authorised to do so in accordance with the following provisions of this Part of this Act, shall have...
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