Commons Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 15:"Page 17, line 37, at end insert—" ““(aa)   participation in the association by persons other than members;”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, this group of amendments again responds to concerns expressed in earlier debates by the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, this time about the nature of membership of a commons association. A commons association established under Part 2 will consist of people appointed—through election or other means—as members of the governing body of the association. They will represent the different interests in the common. These members will make the rules, through majority voting, and all its executive decisions. The number of members in each association will vary, depending on how many commons are in the association, and the relative size and number of the different interests being represented. In an association made up of only two or three commons, where only the landowner and common rights holders require representation, the members may number fewer than 10. In a large association covering many commons with many active and inactive rights holders, landowners and a range of other rights holders, there may be 20 to 30. For example, as the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, knows, the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council consists of a minimum of 26 appointed members. Most people who have rights in a common will therefore not actually be members of an association, but they will be participants in the sense that they will be eligible to appoint members to represent their interests in the association. I understand that noble Lords would like to see all the participants in the association—that is to say, the commoners, owners and other interest holders—described in the legislation as ““members””. But that could confuse people even more. Perhaps I may compare a commons association to a district council. The governing body comprises the elected members, who have been voted into office, whereas the participants in the election for the members of the district council are the residents of the council area. One would not expect the residents to be described as ““members of Charnwood”” or ““members of Harborough””—the noble Baroness will understand better than most what I mean—because their qualification to vote depends solely on their residency within the district. In the same way, the qualification of participants to vote in an election to the commons association will depend solely on their status as commoners, owners or holders of other interests in the common. To call the participants ““members”” would imply that they had to do something to qualify; for example, that they had to complete an annual membership form. It would equally imply that the association could exclude from membership those with whom it fell out. So, on balance, we prefer the term ““participants”” as a more neutral and, indeed, inclusive expression. Amendments Nos. 15 and 18 make clear that the standard constitution or the establishment order for an association can include terms for participation in an association as well as membership. This could include, for example, terms about participants’ entitlement to elect members and to attend meetings. This draws a clear distinction. Amendment No. 19 is consequential. I understand that this may not fully answer all concerns about the roles of participants and members in commons associations, and that we may not have got this quite right. So, as I indicated in my recent letter to noble Lords, we will continue to explore the issues surrounding the terminology used in Clause 30 with stakeholders and in another place. We would be grateful if the government amendments to which I have spoken are agreed today to take us through to another place. Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 clarify that members of an association may be appointed to represent interests, without necessarily being elected. Where the number of individuals with a particular interest is small—for example, if there were only one or two landowners, or if there were no competition for a post—an election would not be feasible or necessary. These amendments allow members to be appointed through an agreed procedure that does not involve a vote. I stress that elections will be used where there is a sufficient number of persons to warrant such a process. This amendment merely enables the most appropriate method of appointing members to the governing body to be used. Amendment No. 22 makes a minor change to commons associations’ ancillary power to raise money through the payment of fees. I beg to move.