Charities Bill [HL]

My Lords, my question follows to some extent what the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, said. I understand the practical implications of this, but there were some fairly weasel words about ““earliest appropriate date”” and ““as early as possible””. Out there in the charity world there is interest in this matter and the timetable the Government expect to work to. Perhaps the Minister could lift the green baize curtain a little and tell us a bit about what the Government have in mind, given the normal sorts of legislative progress, regarding the ““earliest appropriate date”” for implementation and ““as early as possible””, in terms of the commission starting the consultation. Wherever one may stand on that particular issue there is a great deal of interest in what the practical implications of this delightfully introduced Amendment No. 110 would be. So I should be grateful if the Minister could give us some guidance.