Commons Bill [HL]

Our Amendment No. 239 is grouped with Amendment No. 238. The noble Lord, Lord Livsey, has made some interesting arguments about what should be included as a ““relevant authority””. I am very conscious that the Minister has said that she will redraft the whole area, so I will merely follow up on what our amendment contains. If all those different bodies were listed as relevant authorities, in our view a local authority could equally be classified as such. In many areas the countryside recreation teams may be the bodies to spot activity that is not appropriate because their role includes improving access, signage and general maintenance. Would it not be logical to classify those organisations as relevant authorities for the purposes of the section? At the same time, the argument of the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, also has a sound base. Perhaps we will see what the Government bring back.