Coroners and Justice Bill

I rise to speak to Amendment 74 standing in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport. I welcome seeing so many members of the All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group present. This issue is of particular concern to the archaeological community. It would be churlish of me not to welcome the government amendments concerning the coroner for treasure. I believe this provision will make life a great deal easier throughout the country and cut costs for local authorities, which should not be underestimated. We often impose costs on local authorities. Centralising this matter will make the system simpler. It will make those who wish to deal with metal detecting in the legal fashion much more user-friendly. The great success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in the British Museum and the large number of finds that have come into the public domain because of that scheme are to be welcomed. Therefore, the points made by the Minister are most welcome. I am, of course, particularly grateful for Amendment 212, which increases the time during which these issues can be dealt with. When the scheme was not working as well as I hope it will, the six-month limit was far too short. There would be a slight problem with six months even in some cases where there is disputed ownership between the landowner and the metal detectorist. The longer period is welcome. I am speaking to Amendment 74 to deal with another aspect, because an element of metal detecting is not legal. English Heritage’s report on night hawking has shown the scale of the problem. There is the problem of a secondary market whereby people are able to destroy ancient monuments, dig up items of treasure and sell them. The issue is that the internet and sites such as eBay have made it possible for people to find a marketplace for goods which, ultimately, have destroyed much of the archaeological value of many scheduled monuments and other monuments. This issue should be looked at not just in a monetary sense. Violence has been involved in night hawking and it has been a major problem for landowners. The problem we face is that many other European countries have looked at this issue and raised it with internet sites. As those countries have more stringent provision, those internet sites take the issue far more seriously. The purpose of my amendment is to raise a specific issue. Why is it impossible for the archaeological community to discuss with officials the substance of this amendment, even though the Minister has given assurances that that would not be the case? It has not even been discussed. This matter is of vital importance and its scale should not be underestimated. A Portable Antiquities Scheme survey found that the amount of treasure traffic on eBay was considerable and growing. Before we bring the amendment back at a later stage, I should like the Minister at this point to initiate a meeting on this issue between officials and members of the archaeological community to find out why we cannot even discuss the matter. I do not intend to press the amendment this evening, although I cannot speak for my noble colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport. I hope that we can have that discussion before the next stage of the Bill, because the issue is of such importance that it may be worth testing the opinion of the House on it, as we will not get the opportunity to debate it again for a long time.