Commons Bill [HL]

I shall try to deal with those two interventions as best I can. I ought to declare an interest to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler. I am a lawyer, not a particularly distinguished one by the standards of this House, but I thought I ought to tell the noble Lord that in case he did not know. I was not clear on whether he was keen on my argument that it was time for flexibility and not having a system solely reliant on lawyers, or whether he was fully behind his noble friend’s amendment. Of course we are not saying that the commissioners have not done a good job. They have done an excellent job and we take this opportunity of thanking them for the work they have done over many years under the 1965 Act. It is precisely because we need the flexibility to ensure that not every case is determined by fully fledged commons commissioners, when the local authority may well be up to the task itself. We accept that applications to amend the register are likely to attract a fee, but we believe it is only fair that those with interests in common land should be those who pay for any amendments which are necessary in their own interests; in other words, to register a variation or a surrender of their rights. I found the noble Lord’s comments helpful to the case I have attempted to put in resisting the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Livsey. As regards the first question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, appointment is a matter for regulations. Yes, cases may be withdrawn for determination by an appointed person. However, I have said that that is most likely where there is a conflict of interest because the authority has an interest in the common land affected. That is where this is most likely to happen. Regulations might in some cases require the commons registration authority to appoint someone to determine an application. The case we have in mind is where the authority has an interest in the outcome. However, regulations might enable the authority to decide whether it needs expert assistance with a difficult case. It would not necessarily be the national authority which would make that decision—it could be the local authority. I hope that that goes some way towards dealing with his questions. If not, I will happily write to him.