§ 8.32 p.m.
§ Lord CarterMy Lords, consideration of the Greater London Authority Bill has now been concluded. It is rather later than I and others expected and I thank those noble Lords who have been waiting to take part in the Unstarred Question for their forbearance. The Unstarred Question is now no longer limited to one hour, as it would have been had it been heard during the dinner break; the one-and-a-half hour limit now applies. That does not affect the time allowed for the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, and my noble friend Baroness Amos. It increases the time available for all other speakers from four to eight minutes. However, if noble Lords have prepared four-minute speeches and prefer to avoid the frightful inconvenience of extending them at such short notice, they are perfectly free to do so, so long as they stay within the eight-minute time limit.