Dan
Rogerson: I shall not detain the Committee long. I merely
want to draw attention to subsection (3). The Government have
vigorously made the point about the need for consistency and about how
the Bill must apply in all cases—for example, with regard to a
ballot across all parts of the country, although I am not threatening
to revisit that argument. Subsection (3) clearly talks about a
provision that
applies “generally
or only for specified cases or which applies subject to specified
exceptions; (b)
may make different provision for different cases or different
areas”. That
tends to support the argument that there may be specific examples where
different provisions may apply. I merely make that point in
passing. Question
put and agreed to.
Clause 29
accordingly ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Clause
30 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
31Crown
Application Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
Dan
Rogerson: The Minister knows exactly what I am going to
ask, given our experience facing each other on the Committee that
considered the Planning Bill. That Bill contained specific exemptions
for the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall. In this Bill, we are informed
that the Act will bind the Crown. Will it bind the Duchy of
Cornwall?
John
Healey: I anticipated that the hon. Gentleman might have
an interest in this question, and I am pleased to confirm that I wrote
to Her Majesty, who confirmed that she is content that Crown property
be bound by the provisions of the Bill, should that property be liable
and in an area where a levying authority raises a BRS.
Question
put and agreed to.
Clause 31
accordingly ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Clause
32 ordered to stand part of the
Bill. Ordered, That
certain written evidence already reported to the House be appended to
the proceedings of the Committee.—(John
Healey.) Question
proposed, That the Chairman do report the Bill to the
House.
John
Healey: On a point of order, Mr. Atkinson.
Before you close our proceedings, may I thank you and Mrs.
Dean for the way in which you have chaired and guided our proceedings?
You have been very fair and we have maintained a fair pace. I am
grateful to you for that.
I thank the
staff of the Official Report and the House for making sure that
we have been well looked after and that our proceedings have been well
documented. I also thank the officials—the Committee’s
pace, rigour and scrutiny have certainly kept them on their toes. My
hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and I have tried to keep on our toes as
well. The
Committee is one of the strongest that I have served on, in the sense
that it brings together Members with expertise in local and national
Government and in the private and public sectors, and—this
reflects the nature of the Bill itself—with experience of and an
interest in both London and the rest of the country. That has come
through clearly in the way that the Committee has handled its evidence
and scrutiny sessions as part of the process of
legislating. I
thank the Opposition spokesmen, the hon. Members for Bromley and
Chislehurst and for North Cornwall. I pay tribute to the way in which
they have dealt with the differences between us in a rigorous but
measured way, although their positions are still riddled with
contradictions, which I look forward to debating further on Report and
Third
Reading. Finally,
my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State started his remarks by
saying that this Committee was his maiden voyage: only somebody who
represents a constituency in landlocked London could describe the
Committee’s proceedings in maritime terms. However, he has
sailed through the proceedings; he has not tacked under pressure, but
has trimmed when appropriate—when we have heard strong,
persuasive arguments from both sides of the Committee. I am sure that
this is the first of many Bills that he will pilot through the House,
and I look forward to his leading on other
Bills.
Robert
Neill: Further to that point of order, Mr.
Atkinson. I add my thanks and observations to those of the Minister.
For once, he and I are entirely in accord, with just one
exception. I
and all my hon. Friends are grateful to you and Mrs. Dean
for your courtesy. I am also grateful to the staff of the House, the
Official Report and the officials. Some of the questions that we
have bowled up have been dealt with courteously and
efficiently. I
hope that all right hon. and hon. Members agree that this has been a
rigorous but good-natured Committee. We are fortunate, as the Minister
rightly said, in the breadth of experience that has been brought to
bear. That means that although our scrutiny of the Bill was short
compared with that of some of the other Bills with which the Minister
for Local Government and I
have had to deal recently, it has none the less been constructive, and I
am grateful for that. I thank the
Whips on both sides for the expedition with which they have dealt with
our proceedings—I am told that it is always prudent to say that.
I thank both Ministers for their courtesy throughout, and the hon.
Member for North Cornwall, who speaks for the Liberal Democrats. All in
all, ours has been a civilised
Committee. This
is, I think, the first time that I have managed to get through a
Committee without any football references, perhaps because the
situation of my team and that of the hon. Member for Wigan means that
we need to be neither defensive nor unduly triumphant. That is probably
why we passed through without any of the analogies that we sometimes
hear. I
am sure that all my hon. Friends will agree with those remarks, which I
have made on a most considered
basis.
Dan
Rogerson: Further to that point of order, Mr.
Atkinson. I thank you and Mrs. Dean for the way in which you
have allowed us to have a full and open discussion of the matters
before us, while keeping us firmly in order.
I thank the
staff of the House and the Official Report for the way in which
they have ensured that we have had everything necessary to hand, which
has enabled us to work effectively. I also thank my research staff, who
have always been helpful in tabling amendments on time—just
about—when I have been dashing about doing other
things. I
echo the Minister’s comments on the way in which the Committee
conducted itself as a whole. We have had the chance to discuss the
issues. Political points aside—there were undoubtedly many of
those—each Member brought little insights to our debates that
helped the whole Committee, and we are collectively better off because
of
that. Let
me reciprocate the comments made by the hon. Member for Bromley and
Chislehurst and say that it is always a pleasure to serve on a
Committee with him. The Minister for Local Government has, as usual,
been generous in his praise and serious in his consideration of the
amendments—if not generous in accepting them. I, too,
congratulate the Under-Secretary of State on his maiden voyage through
the choppy waters of Crossrail and the
BRS. I
look forward to further consideration of the Bill when it is reported
to the House and to seeing what those in the other place make of it. I
thank you again, Mr. Atkinson, for the way in which the
Committee has
proceeded. Question
put and agreed
to. Bill
accordingly to be reported, without
amendment. 11.15
am Committee
rose.
| 
