Clause 47 - E-conveyancing
Finance Bill
2:30 pm
Ivan Lewis (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Bury South, Labour)
I am not going to say ''immediately'' on this occasion, because I am in enough difficulty as it is for having said that in respect of a previous amendment. The key is to get the regulations right, and to ensure that they are not bounced on the profession. We must take the profession with us, so we will ensure that the regulations are brought in over a reasonable period in full consultation with the profession. As long as the profession understands that and is engaged in the consultation, it does not need me to give some artificial date that may turn out not to be doable. A date may turn out not to be doable not because of the Treasury, but because of the profession's approach.
Once again, I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the amendment, as I have genuinely tried to respond to his concerns. Then we can have a brief debate on the other issue that he raised, which was to do with systems.