Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 245: "After Clause 49, insert the following new clause—"    ““POWER TO AMEND ENACTMENTS CONFERRING FUNCTIONS ON NATIONAL AUTHORITIES (1)   A national authority may by order amend or repeal any provision of a local or personal Act which applies to common land for any of the following purposes— (a)   to remove any function of the national authority which relates to the common land; (b)   to transfer such a function from the national authority to another person; (c)   to remove a requirement that the national authority be consulted, or that its consent be obtained, in respect of— (i)   any act or omission relating to the common land; or (ii)   any act or omission of a person concerned with the management of the common land; (d)   to substitute for a requirement referred to in paragraph (c) a requirement that a person other than the national authority be consulted, or his consent obtained, in relation to the act or omission. (2)   In subsection (1), ““common land”” means— (a)   any land registered as common land or as a town or village green; (b)   any land referred to in section 5(2); and (c)   any land not falling within paragraph (a) or (b) which is subject to a scheme under the Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 (c. 122) or the Commons Act 1899 (c. 30). (3)   A national authority may by order amend or repeal any provision of an Act made under the Commons Act 1876 (c. 56) confirming a provisional order of the Inclosure Commissioners for any of the following purposes— (a)   to remove any function of the national authority which relates to land to which the Act applies; (b)   to transfer such a function from the national authority to another person; (c)   to remove a requirement that the national authority be consulted, or that its consent be obtained, in respect of— (i)   any act or omission relating to land to which the Act applies; or (ii)   any act or omission of a person concerned with the management of such land; (d)   to substitute for a requirement referred to in paragraph (c) a requirement that a person other than the national authority be consulted, or his consent obtained, in relation to the act or omission. (4)   In this section ““national authority”” means— (a)   the Secretary of State; and (b)   the National Assembly for Wales.”” The noble Baroness said: In moving Amendment No. 245, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 246 and 248. A number of old or archaic local or personal Acts or provisional order confirmation Acts made under the Commons Act 1876 impose duties or confer powers on the Secretary of State, or require bodies to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State to activities relating to common land. It is impossible to identify all such Acts, although we have identified several that contain such duties. Government Amendment No. 245 will enable us to review any local or personal Acts or provisional order confirmation Acts to see whether the duties or powers imposed on the Secretary of State or requirements to obtain her consent continue to be relevant. If not, we could by order amend or repeal the relevant provisions or confer the power or duty on another person. That is a modernising power to help us to review duties that might have been appropriate in the past, some of them arising in enactments dating back to the 19th century. Given the number of such enactments, it has not been possible to identify and review them all and we believe the powers sought under the clause are therefore reasonable and appropriate. Government Amendments Nos. 246 and 248 are technical amendments consequent on Amendment No. 245. They provide that the new clause will come into effect two months after the Bill is enacted. I ask the Committee to accept the amendments. I beg to move.