Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 62:"Page 26, line 2, leave out ““any relevant”” and insert ““the appropriate national””" The noble Baroness said: My Lords, Amendment No. 62 responds to the arguments put to us in Grand Committee that the Bill should allow only the national authority—not other specified bodies—to take action under Clause 46 against damaging and unauthorised agricultural activities. That is the effect of the amendment. Having carefully considered the matter, we concluded that giving the power to one authority in each country will be likely to encourage consistent use of the power. We hope the amendment will prove welcome to noble Lords. Amendment No. 63 replaces one of the criteria that governs when this power can be used. Again, it does that in response to persuasive points made in Grand Committee—notably by the noble Lord, Lord Rotherwick. For the current requirement that unauthorised agricultural activity must be detrimental to,"““the protection and promotion of sustainable agriculture on the land””" before action is taken, the amendment substitutes a requirement that the activity must be detrimental either to the interests of the occupier or anyone else with rights over the common or to the public interest in the common. Before opting for an amendment in this form, we considered carefully the arguments for linking this formulation to the one used in Clause 31(1) relating to the functions which can be given to a commons association. We concluded that this would not fully cover the situations in which this power might be required. Our amendment allows action to take place to stop unauthorised agricultural activity where the activity would damage the interests of rights holders. It would also ensure that where unauthorised agricultural activities were detrimental to the public interest, it would be possible to act. Amendment No. 65 is entirely consequential on this amendment, while Amendment No. 71 defines ““the public interest”” for this purpose in the same terms as used elsewhere in the Bill. I beg to move.