Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [HL]

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in the debate. I do not expect that this Second Reading Committee will make the headlines tonight or tomorrow—actually, I hope it does not—but perhaps it will help to make the law simpler and help to keep our trust industry competitive with overseas jurisdictions. I hope that House will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to make a long speech in response. The Special Public Bill Committee is the place for many of the matters raised today to be debated, under the chairmanship of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick. I am delighted not only that he was in his place, but that he contributed to the debate today. The whole House will be grateful to him for taking on what may turn out to be a slightly more onerous role than it might have appeared about an hour and a half ago. I will respond by letter to a number of the issues that have been raised today. I think that is probably a more appropriate way to do it in this case. Listening to the fantastic expertise shown in this debate, I now rather wish I had read law at the university where the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, taught. If I had been to one of her lectures—I am probably too old to have done so—I would feel much more confident about being able to deal with the points that she made. I would like to say a couple of things about the noble Baroness’s contribution. I very much hope that she will play a part in the Committee stage. It would be a terrific disappointment if she was not able to in one way or another. We must see how that can best be done. Her speech was of great interest and some of her comments obviously hit home as far as some noble Lords were concerned. I hope she will forgive me if I say that I take her to be in broad support of the Bill, but I would hate to be the Minister on a Bill that she was opposed to. I am very grateful for her comments. My noble and learned friend Lord Archer made a fascinating contribution with historical references and great enthusiasm for the way we are conducting this Bill and, I think, for its contents broadly. I am grateful to him. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, showed his expertise in the field of charities and companies in particular. I am grateful to him and he will get answers to some of the more detailed questions that he raised. Of course I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Goodhart and Lord Kingsland, for what they had to say. We hope to meet again not before long in the Special Public Bill Committee to get on with the detail. We have had a good afternoon’s work today. If the House will forgive me, that is where I will end my response to today’s debate. Motion agreed.