My Lords, perhaps I may at this juncture say a few words because not only is it customary but I wish to add something and hope that I am doing so at the right moment. It is an opportunity for us to place on record our thanks to noble Lords who have assisted in the passage of the Bill and to those who stand behind us and make it happen to our advantage.
The Bill has had a remarkably long journey and our debates have been liberally sprinkled with amendments. I am mindful of those early days in Committee when my noble friends Lady Hamwee and Lord Greaves tabled a large number of amendments to the first part of the Bill, and I have to say that they were very much for the erudition of the House and the improvement of the Bill. I am grateful to them and my noble friend Lord Paddick, who also participated from those Benches.
I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, who is not in his place at present, and all Peers who participated from the Labour Benches. I see the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, is in his place. His contributions, particularly as a magistrate, were valuable. The noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey, was, as always, a vigorous debater. I know that some of the measures were taken from the Opposition Front Bench by the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, and I am grateful to him, as I am to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, for the debates that she took. Today, we heard from the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, and we have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws.
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Turning to the Cross Benches, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Dear, who made perhaps the most striking contributions to the Bill. However, there have been others: earlier, I noticed the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, who is not in her place today; the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, who impresses on any Bill to which he contributes, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss.
Perhaps I should now turn to my own Benches and thank my colleagues on the Front Bench here. Noble Lords will remember that I was absent on the first day in Committee. I had a private engagement—I confess that it was a significant birthday—and my noble friends Lord Ahmad and Lord McNally undertook the amendments on that occasion. My noble friend Lord Ahmad has remained by my side throughout and has done a lot of the heavy lifting on the Bill. I shall be eternally grateful for his support and have really enjoyed working with him.
My noble friend Lord McNally has gone on to do something totally different and I am now supported at the Ministry of Justice by the new Minister, my noble friend Lord Faulks. He played an important role in debates the other evening and I welcome him to the
Front Bench. Previously he had contributed from behind, where the most significant contributions to debates often come from. I thank him for his involvement from very early on in the Bill, when he had no idea that he would be sitting here representing the Government at this stage.
I thank my noble friends Lady Berridge and Lady Newlove. I also thank those Peers whose amendments changed the face of the Bill. We have heard from my noble friends Lord Marlesford and Lord Deben. They both proposed amendments which are now part of the Bill that we are sending back to the Commons.
As noble Lords will recognise, none of this would happen if it were not for the team in the Box. For most of the time, the team is not in the Box but in the Home Office and other government departments working on the Bill. The relationship between Ministers and civil servants on the Bill was been one of mutual trust and respect. Those civil servants have served the House and this Bill, during its passage through this House, well. Although the Bill has Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing as its title, which one might think is all good, solid Home Office and Ministry of Justice stuff, it has extended across government to a large number of other departments, including Defra on the subject of dogs and the Department for Communities and Local Government on housing matters.
I should like to record the thanks of the Government Front Bench to participants and to the Civil Service team for its support.