The Government (Lord Ahmad) backs down (from House of Lords, November 5): The Government will not transfer any part of the Public Forest Estate to the Homes and Communities Agency. We are amending our guidance to departments on the transfer of public land to make clear that the Public Forest Estate is exempted from transfer to the Homes and Communities Agency. Secondly, we will not include the new Public Forest Estate Management Body in any future regulations specifying which bodies can transfer land to the Homes and Communities Agency. My Lords, I hope this clear public commitment by the Government provides a degree of certainty and, I hope, reassurance to noble Lords. My Lords, having made these commitments, I must also be clear that the intention of clause 21 of the Infrastructure Bill was simply to allow the direct transfer of land from central Government arms-length bodies to the HCA. The noble Lady asked about the list of arms-length bodies, and I would be happy of course to share that with the noble Lady and indeed your Lordships House. The Public Forest Estate, my Lords, is not owned by any arms-length body, and as such is not covered by the aims or purpose of this particular policy. My Lords, various questions have been asked. Indeed, my noble friend, Lord Phillips, raised some very specific questions, and if I may, I’ll write to him specifically on the issues he has raised in the interests of brevity and to move issues on. However, my Lords, I have been listening very carefully by what’s been said in the Chamber this afternoon, and I’ve also listened attentively to the sentiments which have been expressed by your Lordships’ House, and it’s certainly become increasingly clear to me during the course of the debate this afternoon that there is still strong feeling in the House that there needs to be an important issue that the Government needs to reflect upon further. Therefore, my Lords, I will therefore seek to bring in an amendment back to the House at Third Reading which will seek to exempt the Public Forest Estate from transfers to the Homes and Communities Agency. And I hope that that assurance, and the faith that the noble Lady has in me, for which I am grateful, she’ll be minded to withdraw her amendment.”
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 23:22:45 +0000
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