Manchester City Council Bill [Lords]

I thank the hon. Member for Manchester, Central (Tony Lloyd) for the good-humoured way in which he has dealt with these proceedings. I visited Manchester during the Conservative party conference and stayed in Salford, within easy walking distance of the conference centre, so I was aware that part of Salford was within one mile of Albert square. On a proper reading of the Bill, the hon. Gentleman would recognise that the provisions apply only to the city of Manchester, so they would not apply to the area outside the city but within the one-mile radius. That is my defence on that point. The Minister has said a number of times this afternoon that the Government will respond in due course to the consultation. I simply want to place it on the record that paragraph 20 on page 33 of the Government's consultation, which was issued in November, states:""The results of this consultation exercise, including a summary of the views expressed, and the Government's response will be published no more than three months after the close of the exercise."" The close of the exercise is imminent—the beginning of next month. It continues:""The results may be viewed on the BIS consultations home page"." Paragraph 121 states:""Subject to the response to this consultation, it is intended to publish a second consultation outlining the way forward in Spring 2010, including a full impact assessment on the costs and benefits of the Government's preferred options and possibly identifying suitable legislative vehicles."" As a result of these debates and the consideration of these Bills, there is now a momentum for change and for the introduction of a national legislative framework. Those of us who think that that is a major achievement resulting from the passage of the Bills should not allow ourselves to be discouraged by the expression "in due course".