Housing and Regeneration Bill

It strikes me that the Minister may be more comfortable about the general consent than some of the rest of us are. Obviously, he is rather closer to the current Secretary of State. If the considerations—forgive the pun—that a number of Members of the Committee have raised are capable of being reduced to writing in the general consent, I would hope that they were capable of being reduced to writing in the Bill. At the very least, however—because I cannot see that we can avoid coming back to this on Report—I ask that the work being done on general consent is shared with noble Lords so that it can inform that debate. That may be asking a lot of officials, but this is a hugely important point. With real respect, the Government might find it easier and quicker to get a general consensus rather than finding that we divide on something when there is actually no division between us on the issues.