Clause4
Commons Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Elfyn Llwyd (Parliamentary Leader; Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, Plaid Cymru)
It is a greatpleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Miss Begg. I support theamendment, as it is logical and sensible. In effect, it is a slightextension of subsection (3). The hon. Member for North Cornwall madehis points well.
Wales has 22 districtauthorities. Some have only the tiniest of commons; others, such asGwynedd, Brecon and Radnor and Powys, have huge swathes of common land.It would be sensible to introduce flexibility into the Bill.
It was mentioned on SecondReading that in times gone by, land rights were the Cinderella serviceof local government. Very often, one or at most two people manned anoffice responsible for important rights such as grazing, ownership andso on. I am sure that we all want a system that will guarantee freeaccess to adequate and accurate information for members of the publicand registered owners of land and rights. For that reason, amendmentNo. 95 issensible.
The Ministerresponded helpfully to questions about additional funding for properoperation of the duties. That is obviously a key point, but someauthorities are already far more proficient at those services thanothers. I return to the Welsh example of 22 district councils. Do theGovernment honestly foresee 22 different registration authorities, or will there be sensibledelegation, which is eminently reasonable? For that reason, I fullysupport theamendment.