PART IVProperty and Finance

Land and other Property

87Acquisition, use and maintenance of property

(1)

The Secretary of State may acquire—

(a)

any land, either by agreement or compulsorily,

(b)

any other property,

required by him for the purposes of this Act; and (without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) above) land may be so acquired to provide residential accommodation for persons employed for any of those purposes.

(2)

The Secretary of State may use for the purposes of any of the functions conferred on him by this Act any property belonging to him by virtue of this Act, and he has power to maintain all such property.

(3)

A local social services authority may be authorised to purchase land compulsorily for the purposes of this Act by means of an order made by the authority and confirmed by the Secretary of State.

(4)

The M1Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act 1946 shall apply to the compulsory purchase of land by the Secretary of State under this section, and accordingly shall have effect—

(a)

as if section 1(1) of that Act (which refers to the compulsory purchase of land by local authorities under public general Acts in force immediately before the commencement of that Act and by the Minister of Transport under certain enactments) included a reference to any compulsory purchase of land by the Secretary of State under this section; and

(b)

as if this section had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act.

(5)

Section 120(3) of the M2Local Government Act 1972 (which relates to the application of Part I of the M3Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 where a council are authorised to acquire land by agreement) applies to the acquisition of land by the Secretary of State under this section in like manner as it applies to such acquisition by a council under that section.

(6)

Section 128 of the M4Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (use and development of consecrated land and burial grounds) applies to consecrated land and land comprised in a burial ground within the meaning of that section which—

(a)

the Secretary of State holds for any of the purposes of the health service, and

(b)

has not been acquired by him as mentioned in subsection (1) of that section,

as if that land had been so acquired for those purposes.