Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate. Perhaps I might start by addressing the concerns raised by my noble friends Lord Graham and Lady Golding. On the question that they posed to me, I do not propose to withdraw this clause. I have no authority to do that and I do not believe that it would be appropriate. My noble friend was possibly anticipating this as a joyous moment after six years of effort. I know that he has made a lot of effort, but he should not feel let down. His achievements in respect of that six years’ work are embodied in the Bill; they remain there and contribute to supporting the guilds going forward. Yes, it is a permissive regime that is encompassed within the amendment that your Lordships previously accepted, but that sits together with those particular areas that have been carved out where there is a mandatory requirement. My noble friend asked whether it was correct that it would be mandatory for daughters to be admitted if sons could be admitted. It would not be mandatory, but the amendment says that, if the daughter should seek admission, it is mandatory to allow her to become a freeman. That is absolutely what this amendment enshrines. My noble friend also referred to the expropriation of rights. If the concern is that of having a dilution of assets if a greater number of members joined the guild, I am sure that there would be ways to address that. However, I am also sure that one way not to address that would be by a gender cut-off, which seems to me to be quite the wrong principle to adopt here. My noble friend is quite right that the new clause goes further than the permissive regime that he introduced through his amendments, but that regime still remains in place and it is an important part of the Bill. When I moved the amendment, I outlined some of the circumstances where it will be brought to bear. I think that my noble friend Lady Golding—and, indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Bates—referred to honorary freemen. We should be clear that we are not talking about honorary freemen here; they are a separate issue. We are dealing with hereditary freeman. It is those guilds and individuals to whom this clause and my noble friend’s amendment are addressed. The noble Lord, Lord Bates, said that it is always difficult when you are opening up parts of ancient history. Part of what we are trying to do in this Bill is to help the guilds to ensure that they have a future as well as a past and to facilitate their moving forward with addressing their rights and responsibilities The noble Lord, Lord Bates, outlined some of those. To be clear, again, I think that the noble Lord referred to Newcastle freemen as being honorary freemen. However, they are hereditary freeman. There are different arrangements for honorary freeman. Those will, in fact, be covered by Clause 28, not the provisions that we are addressing tonight. My noble friend Lady Golding referred to seeing how the amendment that we are discussing fits with the requirements in some of the guilds’ rules at the moment. This, again, goes back to the amendments brought forward by my noble friend Lord Graham in the schedule that was introduced in your Lordships’ House. I stress that that is what gives the wherewithal to make the consequential changes, so that the mandatory provisions of this amendment can be encompassed and made whole within the context of the guilds’ rules. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, said that she welcomed equality; there is an extra component of that in these circumstances. I readily accept that it could be achieved under a permissive regime, but this amendment makes it mandatory and puts daughters in the same position as sons. Surely in the 21st century we should welcome that. I hope that that has addressed the concerns of noble Lords.