Clause 31
Commons Bill [Lords]
6:45 pm
David Maclean (Penrith and The Border, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 93, in clause 31, page 17, line 43, at end insert—
‘(5A) Where a commons association is established for an area of land that consists of more than one common, it may exercise the functions conferred on it under subsection (1) separately for each common or group of commons.'.
Part 2 of the Bill deals with statutory commons committees and the functions related to the management of agricultural activities, vegetation and the exercise of rights of common. Currently, to a greater or lesser extent, those functions are carried out by the voluntary commoners associations. The Federation of Cumbria Commoners is excited about part 2. It tells me that if its potential is to be properly realised, the voluntary associations will have to be convinced that it is worth the candle to change to statutory committee status.
At the moment, the additional cost and responsibilities and increased burdens may outweigh the advantages of going down the statutory route, unless there is some Government pump-priming. If there had been a stand part debate on part 2, I would have made a speech on the missing funding elements. However, there is no legitimate scope for me to do so and be in order.
The most appropriate size for a typical upland statutory commons committee is uncertain, although the larger the grouping of commons covered, the greater the potential for cost-efficient administrative structures. At the same time, the very individual and peculiar nature of some of the commons, both in respect of their historical development and their modern-day management needs, demands very localised and sometimes individual decision making at individual commons level.
The amendment seeks to ensure that when a statutory commons committee is in the form of an umbrella organisation that looks after two, three or half a dozen commons, because that is seen as the most appropriate and cost-efficient way forward, rules that relate to specific individual commons within that umbrella may be created, and there may be different rules for different commons.
To give a simple example, Caldbeck and Allendale commons in my constituency and that of the hon. Member for Workington might decide to set up a statutory umbrella organisation to share the costs of administrating the statutory functions. However, they might wish for there to be totally different management rules for Caldbeck common on the one hand, and Allendale common on the other. The amendment seeks to make it clear that a statutory commons committee could exercise different functions for all the individual commons within its umbrella.