Requisitioned Land and War Works Act 1945
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Requisitioned Land and War Works Act, 1945
(8 & 9 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 43.
An Act to authorise the acquisition of certain land used or dealt with for war purposes and to make other provision as to such land; to remove doubts as to the powers of certain Ministers to acquire land under the Defence Act, 1842; to amend certain of the enactments relating to compensation in respect of land; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[15th June 1945]
Be it enacted by the King'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.
The War Works Commission.
1 The War Works Commission.
(1) For the purpose of reporting on the matters and deciding the questions mentioned in the subsequent provisions of this Act, there shall be a Commission, to be called the War Works Commission, (in this Act referred to as ‘the Commission’) consisting of a chairman and such number of other members as His Majesty may think expedient, to be appointed by His Majesty.
(2) The appointment of a member of the Commission shall be for such term as may be determined by His Majesty before his appointment and shall be subject to such conditions as may be so determined.
(3) A member of the Commission who ceases to hold office shall be eligible for re-appointment.
(4) A person shall be disqualified for being appointed or being a member of the Commission so long as he is a member of the Commons House of Parliament.
(5) The Commission shall appoint a secretary to the Commission, and may appoint such other officers and such servants of the Commission as the Commission may, with the consent of the Treasury, determine.
(6) There shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Parliament of the United Kingdom—
(a ) to the members, officers and servants of the Commission such remuneration (whether by way of salaries or by way of fees), and such allowances, as the Treasury may determine; and
(b ) any expenses incurred by the Commission with the approval of the Treasury.
2 Procedure of Commission.
(1) The Commission shall have power to act notwithstanding a vacancy among the members thereof.
(2) At any meeting of the Commission three or such greater number as the Commission may determine shall be the quorum.
(3) In considering any matters referred to them under the subsequent provisions of this Act, the Commission shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, cause such inquiries to be made, and give to such persons such opportunities of making oral or written representations, as the Commission think fit, and may, if they think fit, cause a local inquiry to be held.
(4) The provisions of subsections (2) to (5) of section two hundred and ninety of the Local Government Act, 1933 (which relate to the summoning of witnesses, the production of documents, and costs), shall apply to any such local inquiry as they apply to a local inquiry held under that section, but as if for references to a department there were substituted references to the Commission:
Provided that—
(a ) no local authority shall be ordered to pay costs under subsection (4) of that section in the case of any inquiry unless it is a party to that inquiry; and
(b ) for the purposes of subsection (5) of that section, the Minister making the proposals with respect to which the inquiry is being held shall be deemed to be a party to the inquiry and costs may be ordered to be paid to or by him accordingly.
3 Dissolution of Commission.
3. If it appears to His Majesty that the Commission have dealt with all the matters which have been referred to them under this Act and that no further matters are likely to be referred to them thereunder, His Majesty may by Order in Council dissolve the Commission.
Part II.
Ministers.New Temporary Powers of Acquisition of Land by
4 Land affected by government war work or damaged by government war use.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, any of the Ministers specified in subsection (2) of this section may, in the circumstances specified in the two next succeeding sections, acquire under the Defence Acts any land on which government war work has been done or which has been damaged by government war use.
(2) The said Ministers are the Ministers who apart from this Part of this Act have power to acquire land under the Defence Acts, and the Minister of War Transport, the Postmaster General and the Minister of Works.
5 Works.
(1) Where there are government war works on the land, the power of acquisition shall be exercisable if those works were constructed wholly or partly at the expense of the Crown or some other person having no interest or a limited interest in the land and, in the opinion of the Minister, either—
(a ) the value of the works ought, by the acquisition of the land, to be preserved either for the Crown or for the said other person, his legal personal representatives or his successor in the carrying on of a trade or business in connection with the carrying on of which he incurred the expense in question; or
(b ) the right to use the works (whether then or thereafter) ought, by the acquisition of the land, to be preserved or secured either for the Crown or for some other person having no interest or a limited interest in the land, and the case is not one where the land can be acquired under the Defence Acts apart from this Part of this Act; or
(c ) the right to determine the use to which the works are put (whether then or thereafter) ought, by the acquisition of the land, to be secured for the Crown, and the case is not one where the land can be acquired under the Defence Acts apart from this Part of this Act.
(2) In any such case as aforesaid the power of acquisition shall extend not merely to the site of the works but also to any contiguous or adjacent land which, in the opinion of the Minister, must be held with the site of the works if the works are to be properly utilized and maintained.
6 Depreciated land.
(1) Whether there are government war works on the land or not, the power of acquisition shall be exercisable where the value of the land has been diminished by government war work done thereon or by damage caused by government war use thereof if, in the opinion of the Minister, it is desirable in the public interest that the land should be dealt with in a particular manner with a view to the total or partial rehabilitation thereof and the land is only likely to be dealt with in that manner if it is acquired by virtue of this Part of this Act.
(2) In any such case as aforesaid, the power of acquisition shall extend not merely to the land the value of which has been diminished but also to any contiguous or adjacent land which, in the opinion of the Minister, must be held with the first-mentioned land if the first-mentioned land is to be properly dealt with.
7 Easements and other rights.
(1) Where a Minister has acquired or has power to acquire any land by virtue of this Part of this Act or would have power so to acquire any land if he did not already own it, he—
(a ) may, under the Defence Acts, acquire any easement over or right restrictive of the user of any other land, being an easement or right which in his opinion is essential to the full enjoyment of the first-mentioned land; and
(b ) may, if there are government war works anywhere on the first-mentioned land, by order discharge wholly or partly or modify any restriction as to the user of that land or as to building thereon arising by virtue of any contract if, in his opinion, the continued existence of the restriction, or, as the case may be, the continued existence thereof without modification, would prevent the retention of the works on the land or would prevent or impede the reasonable user of the works for public or private purposes.
(2) Where—
(a ) there are government war works on any land constructed at the expense of the person who is the owner of that land and
(b ) a Minister would have had power to acquire that land under paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) of section five of this Act if that person had had no interest or only a limited interest in the land,
the Minister shall have the like power to acquire any easement over or right restrictive of the user of any other land, being an easement or right which in his opinion is essential to the full enjoyment of the first-mentioned land, as he would have had under this section if he had had power as aforesaid to acquire the first-mentioned land, and, on the transfer by the Minister of the easement or right acquired to any person having an interest in that land, the like consequences shall ensue as would have ensued if it had been conveyed to him direct by the persons from whom it was acquired by the Minister.
(3) Any person having an interest in any land entitled to the benefit of a restriction discharged or modified under paragraph (b ) of subsection (1) of this section shall, if the value of his interest is diminished by the discharge or modification of the restriction, be entitled to receive from the Minister compensation in respect of the diminution.
(4) The Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act, 1919 , as amended by any subsequent enactment, shall with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to compensation under subsection (3) of this section as it applies in relation to compensation for the acquisition of a right over land.
8 Reference to Commission of proposals to acquire land or...
To continue reading
Request your trial