Lord Lucas
That it be an instruction to the Select Committee to whom the bills are committed that they should consider the bills in the light of the conclusions of the report of the Select Committee on the Bournemouth Borough Council Bill [HL] and the Manchester City Council Bill [HL] which, while allowing those bills to proceed, expressed “strong reservations about the use of piecemeal private legislation to remedy perceived problems in national legislation” and recommended that “the Government should undertake an urgent review of the law on trading in the streets and selling from door to door with a view to producing national legislation which reflects current conditions.” (HL Paper 148, Session 2006–07)
Lord Lucas
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie of Luton is right that this is a good legacy which has been passed by his Government to ours. I am grateful for all the work that he, his colleagues, and the team behind them have done. I am even more delighted that my noble friend Lady Wilcox and her team have decided to pick up the issue and take it forward with dispatch. That is excellent news which will cheer the promoters of these Bills as much as it cheers me —happiness all round.
I suspect that the promoters will decide to hang fire on these Bills pending the publication of the Government’s thoughts because my noble friend has raised serious questions about the European directive. I am sure that the promoters know how apt that sort of thing is to derail the best drafted legislation and that it may well be best to wait and see what comes. I know that many things can get in the way of legislative timetables from all directions. Therefore, in case we find ourselves in a position where there is nothing from the Government and we have to consider these Bills in Committee, I wish to move my Motion.