Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, for moving the amendment. We had a good debate about the matter in Committee. I hope that the Government will consider the amendment sincerely, because the noble Lord has taken on board the question previously raised about legal costs and whether someone sorting out a dispute between commoners needs to be legally qualified. The noble Lord also mentioned subsection (2)(b) of his proposed new clause. That partly helps to resolve some of the comments made at the time. While we hope that there will not be too many cases where the commissioner will be needed, in reality they have been needed over the years. The Bill as it stands is the poorer without the amendment and I hope that the Minister will consider it favourably. If the Minister does not particularly like the precise wording, I do not suppose that the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, is tied to it. It is the thrust behind it which he seeks to promote. We on these Benches are certainly grateful to him for having included subsection (2)(b), which was, for some, a slight stumbling block in Committee.