My Lords, I think the Minister is relying on Clause 61(1)(e), which refers to,
“a highway in England of a description prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State”,
because the rest of them are,
“a special road … a trunk road … a classified or principal road … a strategic road”.
I am not sure that in terms of sheer mileage, they cover more than half the roads in the country. Unclassified roads are legion. No doubt they will appear in the prescribed description of roads made by the Secretary of State. To add to the questions asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, we really want to know what roads will be prescribed under that subsection so that we can work out what is left and what might become public space.
As I say, that is all very interesting. On the first amendment, on private rights of way, I hesitate to get
into the intricacies of private rights of way because there has been quite a lot of case law and it is all very complicated. I ask the Minister to have another look at it because it is quite possible for private rights of way to cross public land that will be designated as public space. This needs a bit more attention. Having said that, I withdraw the amendment.