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Commons Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation of some of these amendments. We took it that Amendments Nos. 24 and 26 were part of a tidying-up process, but we would be glad to study with more depth what he has said. It seemed to me to be quite meaningful. It appears that Amendment No. 41, the main amendment, is the Government’s response to our Amendment No. 44 on removing the effects of common law. It seems sensible, but what do they intend under the proposed new subsection (5)? I was interested to hear the Minister say that they hoped to define ““agricultural purposes”” and we would be happy to get a definition in the Bill. I am advised that certain agricultural activities are prohibited on commons, so the definition could be an issue. Could the owners be allowed to conduct such activities on common land and could it be likely to happen through the back door if the wrong definition of ““agricultural purposes”” were included?