Part of Crossrail Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:30 am on 27 November 2007.
I, too, seek clarification from the Minister on the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon. The hybrid Bill Committee spent a lot of time making sure that people would be fully compensated and that compensation codes would be written into the whole Crossrail process. Indeed, we listened to many petitioners who thought that they were not as well supported respect as they should be.
The general thrust of the Committee’s work was that those people should be protected, and in our report to the House we made that point again and again. They think that the Government, not deliberately but often as a result of insensitivity, can roll over them without paying regard to their concerns or their need to be properly considered. I was proud to be a member of that Committee for that very reason, because our work was a perfect example of good government working in the way that it should. I should like to know whether the Government can demand to enter into an access contract with a facility owner and can decide, as my hon. Friend said, how much they will pay for the privilege. If they can take such action, it would run counter to the general thrust of the Select Committee, which would be a matter of concern.