Commons Bill [Lords]

I allowed six years to achieve the registration—I believed that that was a reasonable time. However, thirty-five years later, we have no way of ensuring that commons are managed properly. Much of the damage to the sites of special scientific interest has been done in that time. Although we support the Bill, we shall make suggestions in Committee about ways in which it can be improved so that commoners can be engaged more fully and have the confidence that their interests will be taken into account and that the commons that they have loved and on which they have worked for so long will not be taken over by somebody with a different vision from theirs. In most cases—I would say 90 per cent.—the commoners’ interests encompass not only agriculture but conservation. We want to encourage sensible commoners who are committed to that work to have the opportunity to do it.