§ [No. 1]
§ Clause 1, page 1, line 5, leave out from "Wales" to "pitches" in line 6 and insert "having an area of not less than 400 square yards"
§ Baroness BIRKMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 1. With the leave of the House I will also speak to Amendments Nos. 13, 14, 16, 17 and 20. Taking into account the lateness of the hour, and bearing in mind the greater interest which noble Lords have in the Budget at this moment rather than in this Bill, I will certainly be as brief as possible. The purpose of Amendment No. 1, and the parallel one for Scotland, Amendment No. 13, is to ensure that very small sites will not come within the provisions of the Bill; this means sites of less than 400 square yards. Amendments Nos. 14, 16 and 17 are drafting Amendments, consequential upon Amendment No. 13.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Baroness Birk.)
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, my principle observation here is that it seems a little strange in these days of metrication that we still have the obsolescent phrase "400 square yards" inserted in an Amendment to which we would not otherwise object. Will the noble Baroness see that it is borne in mind in her Department, when we come to the consolidation of rating legislation, which I think cannot be too far ahead, that it would be fitting for metric measurements to be used in this type of legislation?
§ Baroness BIRKYes, my Lords; I entirely agree with what the noble Lord has said, and I will certainly bear it in 1632 mind. It is now on the record, and I shall see that it is passed on to those concerned in my Department.