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Lord Livsey of Talgarth: I speak in full support of the noble Lord, who has explained his amendments. I believe that they strengthen substantially the authority. We must not forget that the Secretary of State can accept or not accept the conclusions of the authority. The amendments would achieve a far better balance in the authority than was the case hitherto and would address one of the major points that was made by the Minister when we debated the matter previously.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): I am grateful that my noble friend heeded my words at Second Reading. I therefore welcome the amendment. I regret that he has to leave the country early tomorrow morning, and I hope that that is nothing to do with the Bill.
The provision does not go far enough, however. Although I do not wish to object to the move, we still have an authority that in my view and the view of not only those concerned with the animal welfare dimension, but of a number of neutral observers, is still not balanced. It over-represents the interests of the field sports and under-represents the views of those concerned with animal welfare, particularly given that
views on the issues expressed by those whom my noble friend described as land-use bodies tend to coincide with those of the shooting and hunting organisations.There is probably a more fundamental problem about how the authority ever reaches a consensus, as it is difficult to see how it would do that on the codes. Therefore, many items would be referred to the Secretary of State, whereas it would be really helpful if the authority were sufficiently balanced to sort out such matters. It has also been suggested that the balance could be redressed by additional members appointed by the authority, but that authority is unlikely to appoint people who would change its overall balance significantly.
Although I accept that the amendment is a move in the right direction, it is not sufficient to address the central points of balance that I raised at Second Reading.
Lord Donoughue: I thank those who have spoken, including my noble friend. As always, we shall look carefully at what he has said. However, I firmly believe that the amendment improves the balance of the authority.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Lord Donoughue moved Amendments Nos. 2 and 3:
- Page 3, leave out line 6.
- Page 3, line 6, at end insert—
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.
House resumed: Bill reported with amendments.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Lord Carlile of Berriew has completed the report on the operation of Part IV of the
We are grateful to Lord Carlile for his work and I am pleased to note that he is again satisfied that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has certified persons only in appropriate cases and that he has exercised his independent judgment in each case having given due regard to advice from officials.
We welcome Lord Carlile's recommendations, which we will be considering in detail over the next few weeks. They will provide a useful contribution to the debates.
"( ) the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare,"
11 Feb 2004 : Column 1199House adjourned at seven minutes before nine o'clock.
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