Clause 97 - Commencement
Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill
12:00 pm
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
I take this opportunity to say a few words as the Committee concludes. I must admit that when I walked into our first sitting a few weeks ago, I was rather nervous about tackling for the first time the task of being the Minister on a Standing Committee. I believe that this was also Mrs. Anderson's first experience of chairing a Committee, and I congratulate her on the excellent job that she did. I trust that you will pass that on, Mr. Forth.
I thank you too, Mr. Forth, for the expert way in which you have overseen our proceedings. Earlier, you used the phrase ''a fairly relaxed fashion''; you have steered an able course between relaxation and sticking to order, for which I thank you on behalf of the Committee.
I thank all members of the Committee. I have been impressed by their expertise and their passion for the important subject of protecting our environment and rural communities. I am grateful for the constructive approach that they all took, as a result of which the Bill has been thoroughly scrutinised. We have got to the end of the programme, which does not always happen. We have disagreed on some points, and our discussions on others have led me genuinely to reconsider; I hope that the Committee appreciates that. I shall write to Members today on a small number of issues, and shall continue to reflect on others, on which I shall come back to all Committee members either during the Bill's proceedings or in writing.
We had some interesting discussions about the rural idyll that is Sheffield. I do not think that a sitting has gone by without some discussion of Sheffield. Aside from the fact that Natural England's headquarters will be there, Sheffield is a good example of an area in which the Bill's provisions will have a significant effect. My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) pointed out that it is only a 15-minute journey from central Sheffield to what we would call the countryside. Natural England will be a major player in the countryside, but its role in city fringes, urban green spaces and, indeed, protecting biodiversity in people's gardens through advice and education will be equally important. Sheffield is on the edge of the Peak District national park, and some say that it is the greenest city in the country. We have had fun with it, and it has been an enjoyable feature of our proceedings that will remain with me.
We had a long and detailed debate about Natural England, and I am immensely grateful for the detailed attention that Committee members have given to its provisions. That was perhaps best exemplified by my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), who is sadly not in his place at the moment. I will remember for some time his insightful but disarmingly simple questioning about the terms ''methods'', ''concepts'' and ''techniques''. I wrote to him this morning to clarify what those terms meant and why it was useful to retain them in the Bill.
As the Committee has gone about its work, it has used a rigorous method and applied some interesting debating techniques. The concepts that have informed the debate have generally been sound. At one point, my hon. Friend rose to make what he called a ''pedantic point''. I can assure the Committee that the careful scrutiny that he has given the Bill has been gratefully received and was extremely useful. It has given me much to mull over during the recess.
We unanimously agreed on the importance of getting Natural England's purpose right to reflect its challenging remit, meet the aspiration that it will be more than the sum of its parts and ensure that, through its environmental work, it can maximise its contribution to sustainable development. We have heard impassioned arguments about making the body more explicitly environmental. We have heard thoughts about how Natural England's progress might refer to the relationships that it will have with rural communities, business and farming, and about how its contribution to sustainable development could best be expressed. We also considered in depth the important issue of the body's future independence.
All those discussions were carried out constructively, and I want personally to thank the hon. Members for South-East Cambridgeshire and for South-East Cornwall (Mr. Breed), who have led for their respective parties. They have done an excellent job in scrutinising the Bill's detail, and I thank them for that.
The Bill is important to the Government. I have been encouraged by the broad welcome that it has been given in Committee and in the many parliamentary briefings provided by non-governmental organisations, which I am sure all Committee members have appreciated. I thank those organisations for their involvement in the process and for ensuring that the Committee has been well informed by stakeholders. I am excited that my first Bill as a Minister will leave a lasting legacy for present and future generations: a conserved and enhanced natural environment for all; a strong advocate for rural communities, in particular the most disadvantaged; and a vision that has the pursuit of sustainable development as its heart.
I look forward to my next Bill, which I think will be the Commons Bill, and I look forward to Committee members leaping forward with enthusiasm to take part in its scrutiny. Perhaps we may even be blessed with your good chairmanship, Mr. Forth.