Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Additional Authorities) Order 2007

My Lords, I start by apologising that my noble friend Lady Hanham, who is our principal spokesman on home affairs, is not able to be here for this important order. I commend the noble Lord for his positively Stakhanovite devotion to duty in coming to the House to speak to orders of such fundamental importance. I think that, on this occasion, the noble Lord could quite happily have left the order to one of his colleagues; certainly we on these Benches would not have objected if someone other than the noble Lord had moved the Motion, particularly in light of the fact that he has a cold. Quite frankly, as I think the noble Lord could have said, the order is relatively minor. It simply adds the Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency and Transport for London to the list of those authorities with powers conferred on them by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. As I recall, I was then the spokesman for home affairs, but it all seems a long time ago. I do not want to add anything other than to ask the noble Lord how he thinks the Act has been working since 1998. Presumably he and the Government feel that it has made some progress, which is why they would like to extend the powers to these three bodies. I shall be interested to hear what the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has to say because I believe that she is still a member of the GLA and therefore will speak with greater authority. I leave that to her. Other than those brief comments, I will just say that we have no objection to the order.