Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am very grateful for the many contributions to this important debate. My noble friend Lord Caithness was right to raise the whole question of litigation. The fact that the incidence of litigation is increasing on the part of people in every walk of life is something of which we are not proud; it is a sad reflection on our times. I would hate to think that in 10 years’ time we shall say to the noble Lord, ““We told you so””. That would not bring us great joy. I hope that the noble Lord considers that I am genuine in those remarks. My noble friend Lord Jopling described the difficulty that arises when animals, particularly sheep and lambs, stray on to the roadside. The noble Lord, Lord Livsey, spoke of a place where that problem was so great that people were required to fence off the relevant land. That is not a new problem. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, that we tried to produce an amendment which we considered would help in practice and would be acceptable. It constitutes a halfway house and would be less restrictive than the measure in the Bill. We are anxious to ensure that where people have a genuine right of access to common land—in some places that has not been possible before—they should be able to access it and feel confident that they will not experience difficulties due to works being carried out on the relevant land. I hope that answers the question posed by the noble Lord. There is no doubt that we all wish to ensure that the measure works. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel, for his half-support for the word ““material””, although he and I both accept that that may not be the right word. I am not wedded to it, but I am disappointed that the Government have not made any other suggestion to lessen the bureaucratic way in which the measure will operate. I believe that on Monday the noble Lord, Lord Bach, launched deregulation, or less regulation, for farmers, yet here we are passing still more legislation—