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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

My Lords, I cannot give an exact audit trail for when a particular instruction was given. As a senior Minister for many years, the noble Lord has great experience of the business of government, and what I can tell him is that the drafting of the Bill took place over a short period, in the light of the judgment by your Lordships’ House; we had to move very rapidly. However, we held a series of meetings with noble Lords and the Front Bench representatives of both major parties in this House and the other place. When officials identified that there was the possibility of problems in the original drafting, it was their responsibility to draw them to the attention of Ministers, and in turn Ministers had to take responsibility for the decision to bring forward government amendments. That has happened. Of course I am happy to look into the timing, but I do not have the details with me today. I reiterate my apology to the House and my determination to ensure that we will have every opportunity to discuss these matters in full during the next Session.