Commons Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords who have spoken. Perhaps I may deal first with Amendment No. 50, which I know is a probing amendment. We believe that it is appropriate to maintain the exemption and I shall try to explain why. We must focus on what the controls on works are intended to achieve. Clause 38 is concerned with works that prevent or impede access to the common and which, as a consequence, might adversely affect the common and the purpose for which the land is used. Clause 38 is not a means of introducing a consent requirement for works which some may consider anti-social or inappropriate. If the existing consent regime for such works is considered to be deficient, that does not mean that it would be appropriate to introduce controls via Clause 38, which apply to a relatively small proportion of the land in the country. About 4 per cent of the land surface of England and Wales is made up of common land, and so these controls would not apply to 96 per cent of the land and would not offer protection from any dangers that there might be. The exemption is sensible to deal with the frequent need to erect telephone lines, junction boxes and the like on common land to provide a service to neighbouring properties. We know that the exemption is longstanding; it has existed in respect of communications equipment for over 80 years and we are not aware of evidence that any problems on commons have arisen as a result. It is consistent with our aim and, I suspect, the aim of the House to help create the most dynamic and competitive communications industry in the world which ensures universal access to a choice of diverse services of the highest quality and that citizens and consumers are protected. That objective needs to be balanced in an appropriate manner with others, such as limiting environmental impact and addressing public concern over new developments. However, our judgment is that controls within the planning system are the best way of achieving that. The noble Duke asked, pertinently, whether these matters were covered by planning law, too. The answer is that in certain circumstances—relating to phone masts, for example—consent under Clause 38 would not circumvent the need for planning controls. Consent would be needed under both, if appropriate. So the planning laws do not go out of the window automatically just because the works are covered by this Bill. The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, has put me on my mettle regarding government Amendment No. 51. He asked why this matter is being moved to Schedule 3. The answer is, ““Because it is absolutely a transitional amendment””. The time for it would run out after a period and so the appropriate place for it in the Bill is in Schedule 3. The noble Lord will know that planning permission needs to be extended by time to allow completion of works. The justification for Amendment No. 51 is that it is only an extension of time; it will not allow extended planning permissions for any other purposes—for example, if the area covered by the works is also extended. The amendment would also enable existing permissions to be completed, and often the restoration of the land would be part of that process. So this is a tidying-up exercise in the sense that there is already an exemption from the requirement for consent to mineral workings which have planning permission at the time that the Bill becomes law. Amendment 51 has the effect of extending that slightly when existing permission is varied by extension of the time limit to which the permission is subject. We think that that is a fair way to proceed in this instance. On Question, amendment agreed to. [Amendment No. 50 not moved.]