Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his kind words, and for being as good as his word and including the words ““rural-proofing”” in the Bill. It really is very important to strengthen the CRC in this way, and the fact that it must now examine the way in which other persons and departments develop, adopt and implement policies through a rural-proofing process will be crucial for rural areas in the future. I greatly support the amendment.