Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 74:"Page 8, line 42, after ““remove”” insert ““, within a period of forty working days,””" The noble Baroness said: In moving Amendment No. 74, I shall also speak briefly to Amendment No. 76. The amendment seeks to ensure that the registration authority acts within a given period of time and thus does not allow a backlog of work to build up once the decision to grant permission has been made. Nothing is available to us that delineates how the process will work. It seems reasonable, however, to assume that the national authority will post, fax or email the order to the relevant office or person at the registration authority. Once it has arrived, we believe that there should be a specific requirement for the amendment of the register to take place within a given period of time so that a relevant date is produced. Amendment No. 76 echoes the same principle as that in the earlier amendment. It seeks to put a time limit on the removal of the release land. The fact that the action required to be taken is the responsibility of the local authority rather than the individual does not remove the necessity for the deed to be completed within a reasonable length of time. Defra Bills relating to the duties and obligations of farmers and landowners are full of time limits—and in most cases rather shorter than the period I have suggested here. We feel that a time limit should be set in these provisions. I beg to move.