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Canterbury City Council Bill, Leeds City Council Bill, Nottingham City Council Bill and Reading Borough Council Bill

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. If we were to give marks for these Bills, I think that the Nottingham City Council Bill would have nil points; the other Bills would have some points, but how many would be a matter of debate. I agree with my right hon. Friend's conclusion that the Nottingham city council case has not been made in this Chamber, so why should we indulge the council by allowing it another year even to get round to having Second Reading? If one feels that that is the most important argument before us this evening, in order to express our feelings about the failures of Nottingham city council, we would need to vote against this revival motion, notwithstanding our sympathies for the other Bills before us. I hope that the promoters of the Bills who have not yet expressed a willingness to compromise will be reminded to do so. There is much in these Bills that is not controversial, is of common interest, and will be supported by Members in all parts of the House. Why spoil the prospect of an early legislative achievement by insisting on including provisions which, according to any view, are highly controversial, are the subject of active Government involvement and discussion, and, as we heard from the Minister, will be the subject of a consultation paper in the summer? We do not know whether that will lead to legislation, but given the present rate of progress, I see little prospect of the Bills that we are considering tonight—whose Second Readings must still be debated in the Chamber, and whose merits must be voted on if they are revived—arriving on the statute book, having been dealt with by this House and the other place, before time runs out for this Government and there must be a general election. By then, there will be a completely different scenario. Hopefully, my hon. Friend the Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) will be not just the Minister responsible for this area of activity, but a Minister with a wider area of activity in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform—or perhaps a Department that will have a new title that slips off the tongue rather more easily, and will be more effective. In any event, the situation will have changed significantly. One is bound to ask, on behalf of council tax payers who will be affected by these provisions, whether continuing to try to put these Bills on the statute book constitutes a good investment of their money. Would it not be much better to wait for the results of the Government's consultation in the summer, and see whether they will produce guidance or fresh legislation? That seems to me to accord with common sense, but ultimately, of course, it is a matter for the promoters. If they insist on bringing the matter to the House again, we, as Members of Parliament, must make a judgment on whether we wish to support the revival motions. I hope that one thing will emerge from tonight's debate: the awareness of the Chairman of Ways and Means that there are now distinct differences between two of the Bills and the other two, and that they should therefore be treated differently in relation to issues pertaining to the Second Reading debates. I put that on the record because I think that it would be disappointing if all the Bills were dealt with at the same time. Similar arguments relate to the merits or otherwise of carrying the Bills over, but that was discussed in our earlier debate, and I certainly do not wish to detain the House by restating those arguments. What I do wish to do is record my appreciation of the efforts being made by Leeds city council and Reading borough council to reflect carefully on the necessity or otherwise of clause 5 in the Bills, relating to pedlars.