---

Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I am sorry if I got the wrong amendment numbers. I am referring to my amendments dealing with the RDAs. I must continue refuting some of what the noble Lord, Lord Carter, said. I should also like to touch on the issues raised by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, not when he was speaking to his own amendment—with which I have much sympathy—but when he referred to the need for the CRC. It might be romantic to imagine that elected representatives could represent the needs of rural areas alone, although I do not share that view. But it is also romantic, given the history—starting way back with the Rural Development Commission and going through the Countryside Agency—to imagine that this quango will change things such as the funding for pillar 2 touched on by the noble Lord, Lord Renton, in his Question yesterday, the real funding for sparse areas of rural England, whether the Government will recognise the cost of sparsity, and whether they will be able to change things such as the abolition of the Post Office card account, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, referred. It will be tremendous if it does all the things mentioned, but we have seen years when even direct access to the Prime Minister has meant little change in rural areas. Indeed, I submit that we have seen the closure of rural post offices, fewer police in rural areas—I could go on, but I do not need to because all noble Lords in this Chamber know the problems very well. The problems stay the same or get worse; they do not improve as a result of quangos. I recognise that I have lost this argument. I therefore look forward to debating the membership of the CRC, which is another critical issue. I accept that it will exist. In closing this debate, I must say that I am sorry to hear from the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, that she cannot support my stance on this, given that her leader, David Cameron, launched his democracy task force yesterday. The timing is unfortunate in that she cannot support my amendment today. Nevertheless, I am optimistic about what the CRC will look like. Clause 17 agreed to. Schedule 2 [Commission for Rural Communities]: [Amendment No. 225 not moved.]