Commons Bill [Lords]

Amendment No. 122 would permit statutory powers given to commons councils to be delegated to voluntary associations of commoners. It would strengthen the role of voluntary associations of commoners where they might continue to exist on commons that come under the jurisdiction of a large commons council. Where a commons council is established over one or more commons, voluntary commoners’ associations may continue to exist and play an important role in the day-to-day management of individual commons, as I tried to outline to the hon. Member for Hexham (Mr. Atkinson) a few moments ago. For example, they may co-ordinate the activities of graziers in managing their livestock to comply with rules made by the commons council. Voluntary associations cannot, and should not, be given free-standing statutory functions. A commons council will be given statutory functions only after following an establishment procedure and consulting interests in the common to ensure that there is substantial support for its proposals. In our view, it would be quite inappropriate for a council to be able to divest itself of statutory functions to voluntary associations that have no legal foundation and may not be representative of all the interests in a common. A large commons council covering multiple commons may, however, set up committees or sub-committees to address specific issues, or even to manage activities on a particular common on behalf of the council, but responsibility for the statutory functions of the council must remain with that body. I should clarify the fact that voluntary associations will not have a formal role within a commons council. Membership of the council will typically be established by democratic election, and it would not be right automatically to appoint a voluntary association to serve on the council, because it will not necessarily represent all commoners. Of course, there is no reason why members of the voluntary association could not put themselves forward for election to the council. While we expect that there will be situations in which commons councils work alongside voluntary associations, they will not automatically consist of voluntary associations, as the amendment proposes. I therefore urge the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) to withdraw his amendment. Amendment No. 117 would enable a local authority actively to manage an unclaimed common. Under section 9 of the Commons Registration Act 1965, which is re-enacted in clause 45, local authorities already have powers to protect unclaimed common land. In that context, protection means taking action against unlawful interference—for example, seeking a court order against caravans drawn onto the common, or dealing with an encroachment. The amendment, however would enable an authority to go further, so that it could manage the land as if it were itself the owner. On the face of it, that seems a sensible step. We support the aim of enabling local authorities to manage unclaimed common land, which is why clause 50 amends part I of the Commons Act 1899 to update existing powers to make a scheme of management for common land and allow management to be vested in the local authority. That is the best approach to managing unclaimed common land. A scheme of management ensures that the authority has clear powers to administer the common in the interests of the local community, but it ensures, too, that the authority has clear responsibilities. Making a scheme is straightforward and relatively cheap—a scheme recently made by Forest of Dean district council cost less than £700. Alternatively, it would be open to the local community to seek to establish a commons council for the land, and the local authority could help to facilitate that. The management of the common would be in the hands of the commons council, rather than the authority. A commons council will have all the powers needed to manage common land, even when the owner cannot be identified, and thus ensure that the objective of better management, which I share with the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, can be achieved. Unfortunately, the effect of the hon. Gentleman’s amendment is much less clear. It would certainly allow an authority to plant trees or cut the grass, but by doing so, would it acquire any of the duties of an owner or occupier, so that, for example, it would be obliged to make safe any dangerous trees, or dispose of fly-tipped waste? What would happen if the commoners objected to what the authority had done, or if the owner turned up and wanted the authority to remove the trees that it had planted the previous year? Those difficulties are resolved by schemes of management, but not by the hon. Gentleman’s proposals. I can appreciate his indifference to such schemes, as he may fear that local authorities will not take the initiative to make new schemes. However, we are already committed to advising local authorities on their new powers under the Bill in a circular, which we intend to publish as part of the implementation programme following Royal Assent. We want to reinvigorate the powers in the 1899 Act by changing the Bill and by commending those changes to local authorities. However, we cannot advise local authorities, and we do not think that it would be right to dip in and out of the process of commons management, as the amendment suggests, because it must be a case of all or nothing. It is right that authorities can step in, when required, to protect common land, but that does not imply that they have wider responsibilities for that land. If a local authority wants to go further than that, it should make a scheme of management so that everyone is clear about its role and responsibilities. Those are important aspects of the scheme, and it is right that those matters are covered comprehensively in the scheme rather than being left uncertain, as this amendment would have it. Once again, I am unable to support the amendment, which I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw.