There is a good reason why such commitments have not been included in previous legislation. I must say to the hon. Gentleman that I am not about to make political history and create a precedent with the Crossrail Bill.

On the comments of the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster, I am clearly far more optimistic than he is about the robustness of the financial package that has been put together. Time will tell, but I think that the amount of work that has been put into creating that financial package will show in time that that package is extremely impressive and, I must say, robust.

The purpose of the hon. Member for Wimbledon in proposing new clause 3 is to ensure that

“Any land or property...if deemed thereafter surplus to the needs of this Act, shall be disposed thereof” and the proceeds will be used for Crossrail-related purposes. I can assure him that this new clause is unnecessary. The Secretary of State has already given a number of undertakings on the matter of the land disposal policy. These form part of the environmental minimal requirements and she has given undertakings to Parliament on the enforcement of those requirements. The relevant paragraph in that policy is as follows:

“Where any land which has been acquired and used for the construction of Crossrail is:

(i) no longer required for the satisfactory completion of the Crossrail works;

(ii) not required in connection with the operation of Crossrail; it will be sold subject firstly to the Crichel Down Rules 2004 and to the extent that this does not apply, then in accordance with this policy”.

As I am sure the hon. Member for Wimbledon will recall, those rules provide for the circumstances in which land acquired under threat of compulsion but no longer required for public purposes will be offered back to the former owner. The requirement under the rules to offer land back is not unqualified.

The terms of the Crossrail land disposal policy were published in advance of the Select Committee’s consideration of the Bill. Therefore, they have formed the backdrop for many agreements reached with persons whose property would be subject to compulsory purchase as a consequence of the Bill.

On the question of the use of the proceeds, I assure the hon. Member for Wimbledon that it is integral to the funding package announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister last month that the proceeds will be applied for Crossrail purposes. As the hon. Gentleman will appreciate, however, the timing of those receipts is unlikely to marry with the timing of payments of compensation and therefore they will go towards the repayment of Transport for London borrowing to finance the project.

The heads of terms between the Department for Transport and Transport for London, setting out the  details of the funding arrangements, were published yesterday, as the hon. Member for Wimbledon will know. He will find in the table on uses and sources of funds, at paragraph 4.1.3 of those heads of terms, that it is envisaged that £500 million will be raised from sales of surplus land and property. With those assurances, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will consider not pressing the new clause to a Division.