Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

There are two issues here: one arises out of the amendment which deals with the incidental powers in Clause 13; the other is an important issue around the future of rural development in this country, which the noble Baroness mentioned and on which the noble Lord, Lord Renton, is a knowledge expert. I have to put it like that because he is asking me a Question about it in a week’s time—next Tuesday to be exact. If I do not go into huge detail on the point tonight, I hope that the Committee will forgive me. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, is initiating a debate on rural affairs tomorrow, to which we are all looking forward greatly. I am also looking forward to answering the noble Lord’s Question next Tuesday, but I will have a word to say about it. Let me deal with the first part: the incidental powers provision in Clause 13. It is a standard provision for any non-departmental public body; for example, the Environment Agency has equivalent powers, but there is frequently some cause or confusion around those powers. That is what the noble Baroness is getting at. Let me try to spell out briefly what they are about. Without such powers in Clause 13, Natural England would be able to do anything incidental or conducive to carrying out its functions. However, there can be doubts about what is or is not incidental or what is or is not conducive to the functions of an NDPB, so this provision makes Natural England’s incidental powers clear. We are not in the business of setting up a trading company, so in common with all public bodies Natural England would be able to use these powers only in situations where it is helpful to do so to carry out its functions. That is a significant and important safeguard. The amendment would remove Natural England’s express powers to acquire property and to borrow money. It might still be possible for Natural England to do those things as a matter of law, but it would not be in the Bill. We do not think that there is any danger in keeping those express powers. They are useful and will allow Natural England, for example, to take out a loan in order to buy land to provide study facilities. We do not see anything wrong with that. But Natural England would be able to borrow money or to buy land only—I stress, only—where the transaction is incidental or conducive to its own functions. In other words, these incidental powers are constrained by the scope of Natural England’s functions.