Commons Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister for his full response. Having listened to what he said on the government amendments, I do not have any queries in that regard. I am sorry to nitpick at the beginning of our sitting, but the Minister said that the power was laid down under the 1925 Act. However, access and the CROW Act did not come into force until 2000, so the circumstances that applied in 1925 are not the same as those that apply today. While I shall not press the Minister at this stage, it would be helpful if he would consider that. Quite often we can work within an existing Act, but it is quite difficult with these provisions. The Minister assures us that trivial and frivolous claims will not be made; in that case, he has greater faith in human nature than I have. With regard to the mapping of countryside areas for access, the challenges made by one individual, Kate Ashbrook, were a disgrace, in my humble opinion, and reflected what can happen if somebody gets a bee in their bonnet and takes advantage of a new set of circumstances. I do not think I need say any more in that respect. The Minister kindly referred to the question of timetables. Perhaps he can give us an indication of what the Government consider a reasonable timetable. If this happened on Report, I should not mind, as it would be worth clarifying. While I am very grateful to my noble friend Lord Peel, I shall not comment any further on his amendment. We are both trying to achieve an effective method and system of being able to manage land. He has gone into it very fully and he may well want to come back on it later. There is also the question of retrospective claims, which the noble Lord did not touch on.