My Lords, I thank and of course commend my noble friend for his admirable performance in imitating the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, whose contributions we are missing immensely. I understand that he is snowed in, so our thoughts are with him. I hope that he has not been caught on the motorway.
I turn first to Amendment 40B and the questions asked about publicity arrangements. We have shared a draft of the regulations with the relevant parties, which include the Open Spaces Society and the Association of Commons Registration Authorities, and we are continuing to work with them. We are also grateful for their input to date.
In terms of notice requirements and regulations and the minimum actions required to publicise these particular issues and site notices, the details of notice requirements are currently being worked up with the relevant parties, including the Open Spaces Society and the Association of Commons Registration Authorities. The regulations will require that commons registration authorities take appropriate steps to ensure that local people and other interested parties are made aware of the fact that a landowner statement has been deposited. As a more general point, regarding the issue of the draft regulations being made available to noble Lords, we need to do some further work on them with relevant parties, including the Open Spaces Society and the Association of Commons Registration Authorities. I would prefer that the regulations are worked up further in conjunction with those people, with the relevant expertise, before they are discussed more widely.
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I can give a few more assurances on whether, for example, landowners will need to publicise what they are doing. There will be notice requirements to be complied with but the commons registration authority will be responsible for undertaking them. The requirements will be specified in regulations. In terms of formal consultation, key organisations, as I have already indicated, are working with us on finalising the regulations and we hope to commence the provisions during 2013, assuming that discussions reach the relevant state. To keep our discussions focused, I hope that these were the specific assurances sought and I hope that my noble friend will see fit to withdraw the amendment.