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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I hope that my noble friend will consider that Amendment No. 244 helps the Government by putting some muscle behind the extremely admirable intention of their proposal. I will not bore the Committee by repeating my interests, as I have expressed them before, but I shall spell out a rather different interest that I think I should declare. I am completely the product of an urban existence, but 12 years ago I was one of those who made their home extremely happily in a very rural area. One of the hidden problems that we are dealing with all the time in policy-making in this area is the increasing number of highly articulate, sophisticated, professional people living in the countryside interpreting the needs of the countryside from an urban background. It is essential for the CRC to exist to understand the people and the communities who are rooted in the countryside and what their needs are. I make two points to the noble Baroness, Lady Miller. First, I agree with her about the importance of local government. That is a traditionally Liberal point of view but it is an objective which I share. If we take democracy seriously, local government is tremendously important. I do not see the two bodies as competing. If the CRC works well, it will strengthen the role of local government through understanding what local authorities in rural areas are trying to do, understanding their problems, bringing those together and speaking out. Secondly, since I have made my home in the countryside I have been repeatedly struck by how we sometimes look at housing, health, employment and transport as specific issues in their own right. They interplay with each other, and it seems to me that the CRC in doing its job will be able to bring those different elements together and make strong representations to government about the holistic need of the countryside. That is also a good Liberal principle, and I hope that the noble Baroness might take it seriously. There should be a holistic approach rather than a segmented one. I ask the noble Baroness to think again about our idea of having a whole host of specific individual commissions or specialist committees reporting on particular issues. That would not help; it would complicate the task rather than help to overcome the difficulties.