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Commons Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister for that extremely detailed reply. I shall certainly need to study it before I can take in all the implications of what he said. It seems that he has put reservations in the way of every title being registered. The Land Registry has to do this—it is its job—and I do not quite see why it should not record what has happened on each occasion given the technology that is available these days. The Minister has a strong point—as do other Members of the Committee—on the question of objections. As he indicated, that is perhaps a slightly strong provision. As regards the searches to which the Minister referred in relation to the vendor and the purchaser of the title, certainly in my experience they are not always successful. Many of these ownership issues go back centuries, not just weeks or months or years. There are some loopholes in the system. It is not a one-off event that commons associations have not known who has purchased land; there have been a number of occasions when this has occurred. I shall study the Minister’s reply. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 17 agreed to. Clause 18 [Correction]: