Digital Economy Bill

Lord Ashton of Hyde Excerpts

1st reading (Hansard): House of Lords & Committee: 1st sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 31st January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Inglewood (Con)]

My Lords, I join those who have spoken in support of these amendments. Like some other noble Lords, some weeks I come up from the country to your Lordships’ House. The shortcomings of the infrastructure in rural Cumbria, where I live, is far too frequently a topic of conversation.

As a number of noble Lords have said, connectivity is the crucial aspect here, because it is now part of the essential infrastructure of contemporary life. It is important that we look at this issue from the perspective of what people need, but the reality is that what we need today may not be what we need tomorrow. We have to try to bridge the gap between the digital haves and the digital have-nots, and we achieve that by looking at the issue in the way that I have just described. Therefore, I am not approaching this matter from a kind of nerdy, technical perspective. What matters is the result as much as the means by which you get there.

Over the years, there has been a lot of debate about whether a universal service obligation should be in our law and be statutorily enforceable. I had the good fortune to chair the Communications Committee, and a number of years ago, when we conducted an inquiry into broadband, we debated this issue at length. On that occasion we reached the conclusion that what mattered was the rollout and that it was quite conceivable that a USO would get in the way. With the benefit of hindsight, that was probably a mistake, and therefore it is interesting to see the provisions for such a legal obligation coming into our legislation.

However, at the end of the day I come back to where I started with all this, and it is why I will be interested to hear what the Minister has to say. It is not the detail but the result that matters here. We have got to move into a world where the digital divide is bridged. This is particularly important for areas in the country, and I speak from that perspective, but it is also true for a number of urban areas. We seriously deny people access to a whole range of commercial, and other, aspects of contemporary life if there is not adequate connectivity. As a number of your Lordships have said, we live in a country that is adopting a different approach to industry. It is crucial to appreciate that the key to increasing wealth creation in areas outside the south-east of England—which I think everyone agrees is desirable—is improving connectivity. That is the way, as noble Lords have said, to improve the potential of SMEs outside the south-east.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Ashton of Hyde) (Con)]

My Lords, I am glad that we are at last able to start this very important Committee. I should immediately declare an interest, which is that I suffer at my home in the country from extremely bad broadband, although we are lucky enough to be able to use microwave technology to do something about this. In addition, last night when I tried to ring my wife from central London on my mobile telephone to complain how overworked I was, I was unable to get a signal. So, I can absolutely sympathise with my noble friends Lord Arbuthnot and Lord Inglewood; I recognise the problems, particularly for rural areas and SMEs, and the Government agree with quite a lot of what has been said in terms of aspirations. I think we will differ when we come to decide how the USO should be used to fulfil those aspirations, and exactly what its role is.

The Government have a clear digital agenda, and our ambition is for world-class digital connectivity. We are determined to ensure that the UK has the digital infrastructure that our businesses and citizens need both now and in the future. The Green Paper published on 23 January makes digital infrastructure a central pillar of the Government’s proposed industrial strategy and identifies good digital infrastructure as a driver of growth.

We support the spirit of Amendment 1, requiring that the universal service order should define a gigabit-speed broadband universal service obligation—or USO—delivered via full fibre to the premises. We differ in that we do not think that the broadband USO is the right tool to use at this stage in the development of the UK’s digital infrastructure market. To pick up on the point of the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, the rationale for a USO is to prevent social and economic exclusion. It does this by ensuring that where the market does not deliver, a minimum set of communication services are made available, on request, to everyone, no matter where they live or work. In doing so, it takes account of the prevailing technologies enjoyed by the majority of people: the USO follows the market, it does not drive market change. The UK’s fibre market is at an early stage of development—currently only 2% of UK premises have full-fibre connection—so I do not think we have reached the stage where there is a case for introducing a gigabit-speed USO. It is not a prevailing technology used by the majority and it is not needed to prevent social and economic exclusion.

We do, however, agree that more extensive fibre connectivity is crucially important to the UK’s future digital growth. We are planning now for the networks that are going to be needed to ensure continued economic growth and development across the UK in both urban and rural areas. In the Autumn Statement we announced more than £1 billion to support digital infrastructure, targeted at supporting the rollout of full-fibre connections and future 5G communications. The Government are consulting on how we might further encourage full-fibre rollout.

Amendment 2, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Fox, proposes a superfast broadband specification for the USO. This specification is, as the noble Lord said, in line with scenario 3 of Ofcom’s USO technical advice, which the Government commissioned to help inform the design of the USO. All the scenarios set out in Ofcom’s report are being given careful consideration. Once that work has been completed there will be a public consultation on the design of the USO and the specifications that will be included in the universal service order, including the minimum speed.

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[Baroness Byford]

My Lords, as someone who is not as well versed as some noble Lords with the technology, it always strikes me as strange that if you go abroad, wherever you are, you seem to be able to get access. What do they do that we do not? Are there lessons that we should be learning? Do they have a different system? How does it actually work? It seems ludicrous that we are going into such nitty-gritty when perhaps, over there, there is something that we are not even opening our minds to.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, I am grateful for the contributions in this interesting and important debate. Amendment 6, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, seeks to include mobile coverage within the scope of the guidance on the broadband universal service obligation. The universal service directive currently provides the regulatory framework for a broadband USO and although, depending on the design of a broadband USO, there is scope for the USO connection to be provided using mobile technology such as 4G, the directive does not apply to mobile coverage.

I am afraid we do not currently consider there is a case for a USO for mobile. The Government have already secured significant progress to ensure mobile coverage across the whole of the UK through the licence obligations arising from the December 2014 agreement with the mobile network operators, which locked in £5 billion of investment to support the rollout plans. We want to hold the mobile operators’ feet to the fire, and noble Lords will be aware that Clause 10 will give the regulator, Ofcom, the power to issue hefty fines to mobile phone companies that fail to meet their licence obligations. The noble Lord, Lord Gordon, mentioned that it does not help if you are not getting a full mobile service, but it is a direct incentive, as is compensation. We are trying to achieve what he wants.

Amendment 19, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, seeks a licence variation to require roaming within networks where there is an intermittent or no signal, while Amendment 17 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Gordon of Strathblane, would offer roaming as automatic compensation. I understand the frustrations of people whose mobile experience does not live up to their expectations, but although roaming appears to offer a quick fix, it would do more harm than good, undermining the incentive for operators to invest in new infrastructure. This is particularly important for areas that have no coverage from any provider at all, as there is no incentive to invest capital in a new mast if other operators simply piggy-back off your investment.

Noble Lords mentioned coverage in other countries— my noble friend Lady Byford mentioned travel abroad. The reason for that is there are international roaming agreements, which apply to a UK citizen travelling in Europe. However, it is offered on a fair-use basis, when tourists travel for a limited period of time. Details of a fair-use test to prevent abuse of roaming are being agreed in the EU at the moment.

Roaming was considered by the Government in 2014, but was rejected in favour of licence obligations to drive increased coverage by all mobile operators, which locked in the £5 billion investment I mentioned earlier. We are making progress: Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2016 report, which records progress to June 2016, shows that 99% of UK premises now have indoor voice coverage and 98% have indoor 3G or 4G data coverage. Our recent reforms to mobile planning laws in England, and the proposed reforms of the Electronic Communications Code which we will be talking about later, will support further investment and improvements in connectivity across the UK and reduce coverage not-spots. We are working to make it easier and cheaper for mobile companies to invest so that consumers benefit from good coverage and can receive it at low prices. Our measures are achieving this, and our future reforms will support this further, thereby delivering a better deal for consumers across the UK.

Noble Lords will also be aware of our commitment to being world leaders in 5G, as the noble Lord, Lord Gordon, suggested. That is why we announced over £1 billion of funding in the Autumn Statement to support the deployment of the next generation of digital infrastructure. We want to support investment, and not discourage it. The noble Lord, Lord Maxton, talked about his desire to see no masts at all and for the system to be based on satellites. I am not an expert on the technical side of this, but I think I am right in saying that for 5G, which is what we are aiming for, we are going to see more masts, I am afraid, or more transmitters attached to various edifices—we will talk about that later, I am sure—because they have shorter range and greater bandwidth. So I am afraid I do not think the bandwidth that is possible from satellites will enable what we have all talked about and what is required for the future.

[Lord Fox]

I am grateful that the Minister has brought up the matter of smaller and more populous transmissions for 5G, because one of the issues that he could consider when implementing this is to limit the amount of new ducting and work that needs to be done on our streets and in our towns. To enforce, or expect, the sharing of ducting across our towns—which is not necessarily forthcoming—would help us with that. Perhaps the Minister will consider that.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

An amendment on that issue may be considered later today. That, however, will be a little taster for later. I have, therefore, come to the end of my explanations and I hope that, with those reassuring words, the noble Lord will withdraw the amendment for the moment.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara]

That is not at all the impression the noble Lord has given. Again, we have seen a lack of ambition to solve some of the long-standing problems. The noble Baroness, Lady Byford, was right to draw attention to what happens when you go abroad: you get a completely different experience—you are regularly connected to a service that you have become used to and there are no questions about which mast to point at. Wherever you are you will get service. Why we cannot get that here, I do not understand.

On this issue, however, we will always come up against the fact that if we are to get a 5G service across the whole of the United Kingdom the current system will not work. The directive may provide convenient help in propping up the Government’s arguments at the moment but that will not be available in a couple of years’ time when 5G begins to roll out seriously. We will come back to this issue. If we are to get to more than 92% coverage—the sort of ambition in the Government’s own paper, Connected Future—we cannot stick with the current model, which clearly does not work. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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[Lord Mendelsohn]

My Lords, I express our support for the amendment so ably produced by the noble Lord, Lord Fox. It is entirely consistent with Amendment 21, to which we shall come in the next group, and it provides a useful window on performance. In considering what the full report should look at, I just suggest that it would be useful if it considered upload speeds, outages and user experience. We talk far too often about what speeds are delivered to the home and not enough about the user experience; it would be very useful to include that in such a report.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, Amendment 8 also relates to reviewing the delivery of broadband policy. We have spent some time discussing broadband policy and I do not wish to repeat myself by setting out the Government’s digital agenda again. We do not disagree with the urgency, and the noble Lord is right to mention it.

The amendment would require Ofcom to produce an annual report on progress in implementing the universal service obligation. We should remind ourselves that that is the point of this part. The amendment lists a number of areas that the report should cover, not all of which relate to the broadband USO. As noted previously, I agree that it will be crucial to monitor progress of this important consumer measure, but I think that it is reasonable that the reporting requirements should be decided once the design of the USO has been finalised, not before. This will be done following the consultation on the detailed design of the USO.

Some of the areas listed are already reported on by Ofcom. For example Ofcom’s Connected Nations report, which is published annually, already provides details of superfast broadband coverage and take-up, including the percentage of premises nationally connected via fibre. The length of time taken to repair lines is also monitored and reported on by Ofcom under its market review process. Ofcom also conducts mystery shopping exercises to check compliance with the broadband speed code of practice. Under Ofcom’s voluntary code of practice on broadband speeds, broadband providers agree to give clear information on broadband speeds to consumers when they consider or buy a home broadband service and provide redress when speed performance is low. Earlier, I mentioned the Advertising Standards Authority’s review.

The noble Lord, Lord Foster, mentioned take-up, as he did on Second Reading. We agree that that is an important issue. It is interesting that Ofcom’s report assumes an 80% take-up, which we will have to think about. We agree that it is important for the per-unit cost to reduce as it is rolled out. This will be one thing we can take into consideration in the consultation. He also mentioned the broadband voucher scheme. As I said earlier, the full fibre rollout consultation included the option of a further full fibre business voucher scheme alongside other options. We will publish the findings of the consultation and the next steps alongside the findings of the business broadband review.

Therefore, although we sympathise with the spirit of the amendment, we do not think it is the correct thing to do at the moment, before the decisions have been made, and I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw it.

[Lord Fox]

I must confess to being disappointed. The idea that because the service provider publishes some information to consumers, the point of the amendment is addressed, misses the point. Whatever else we have in our broadband service provision, it is not a free and fair market. It does not work as a market. The whole point that we are debating is that, if we were going to build this from scratch, we would not start from where we are now. I think it was the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, who mentioned market correction. This is designed to enable us to maintain market correction of something that is not a market. We have deliberately created something that is completely agnostic as to what the universal service obligation should end up being, and it would be strengthened by the suggestions of the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn. I ask the Minister, in quiet reflection afterwards, to think again, but in the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed. Amendment 12 would introduce a new clause to require that the rollout of the broadband USO be delivered on a fair and competitive basis. Under the EU universal service directive, the USO is delivered by one or more designated universal service providers. Designation of the provider or providers is a matter for Ofcom under Section 66 of the Communications Act 2003. The Act enables Ofcom to set out the procedure for designation in regulations, and Section 66(7) requires that this procedure must be efficient, objective and transparent, and not involve or give rise to undue discrimination against any person. Existing legislation therefore already provides for a fair and open process for the designation of a universal service provider, which meets the concerns of this amendment.

As noble Lords may be aware, in April last year Ofcom published a call for inputs, seeking views from industry and consumers on the design of the broadband USO. The majority of respondents shared Ofcom’s preference for a transparent and competitive designation process for the universal service provider. At the same time, however, few industry stakeholders expressed a desire to be designated as the provider of the broadband USO. In light of this, Ofcom’s USO technical advice, published on 16 December, explained that it considered that a more restricted process, whereby all providers are considered and an appropriate provider chosen, subject to a consultation process, was more likely than a competitive process which was unlikely to bring forward any interested providers. It also indicated that the most efficient outcome may be for BT and KCOM to be designated as universal service providers. This will be a matter for Ofcom to consider fully, once decisions are made on the detailed design of the broadband USO. I should, however, stress that the universal service provider is only able to recover from a USO fund in respect of an unfair net cost burden, as calculated by Ofcom, so the method of designation has no bearing on whether the designated provider is incentivised to deliver the USO in the most efficient way.

Amendment 13 would require the designated universal service providers to roll out in rural areas before deploying their networks in urban ones. I do not think this would be appropriate. There are, I know, more rural consumers struggling with slow broadband speeds, but I do not think that the needs of urban consumers are any different from those of rural ones in the same position. As such, they should be treated the same. The USO is being introduced specifically to target those areas where commercial providers have not provided, and are unlikely to provide, connectivity, be they rural or urban areas, and to confront social exclusion wherever it is located.

The noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, talked about the role of smaller suppliers in the BDUK superfast programme. Of course, smaller suppliers can successfully deliver infrastructure into communities in the hardest-to-reach parts of the UK. There are now 11 smaller suppliers contracted to deliver superfast broadband projects through BDUK’s programme. The noble Lord also asked why we do not introduce an outside-in rollout, like Germany. We agree that has been very successful but unfortunately it is not comparable to what is proposed under the USO. In Germany there is no USO, but a publicly funded rollout programme. It worked by giving the commercial sector the opportunity to roll out in more commercially viable urban areas. The USO is intended to target areas that are not commercially viable.

Amendment 20—I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Mendelsohn, for his measured remarks about BT, which is a bit of a whipping boy here—would give the Secretary of State a power to direct Ofcom to begin the process of legally separating the Openreach division of BT. We do not think this power is necessary, since on 29 November last year Ofcom announced its intention to do that very thing, as the noble Lord, Lord Fox, mentioned. In answer to the question from my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot, I am afraid I do not know the details about the way it has been operating. I will check that and get back to him in writing. According to Ofcom, the only thing that can stop the process is if BT agrees a voluntary arrangement that meets all of the regulator’s requirements.

Furthermore, through its comprehensive digital communications review, which reported in February 2016, Ofcom examined closely the whole of the UK telecommunications market. It concluded that changes to the governance of Openreach could benefit competition and consumers, and consulted last summer on the form that these changes should take. Last November it announced its decision that legal separation was the way to go. Therefore, Ofcom has already carried out most of the actions set out in paragraph (2) of this amendment. If the Secretary of State were to use the power granted by this amendment to direct Ofcom in the manner described, the result would be repetition and delay due to the requirements of the clause.

Because Ofcom is an independent regulator—I can say to my noble friend Lady Byford that it is Ofcom that holds it to account—the Government do not wish to take a power to direct how it should carry out its duties. However, I can assure noble Lords that the Government are listening to Ofcom in case there is anything we can legitimately do to ensure that the changes the regulator has proposed can be carried out expeditiously. I will leave that there for the time being.

Amendment 21 would require local authorities to take steps to ensure that alternative suppliers are in place to meet the requirements of the broadband USO where they identify areas which do not receive this. It would also give local authorities the option of publishing data on broadband speeds in their area and the extent to which the broadband USO is being met.

If I have understood the intention, the first part of this new clause seems unnecessary, as the process for designating the universal service provider is intended to ensure that no operator would be excluded from being designated. It would be for operators themselves, either on a national or regional basis, to put themselves forward to be considered for designation by Ofcom. This is not something that local authorities would have a role in. If, on the other hand, the intention of the new clause is that local authorities should take a role in procuring alternative suppliers to deliver broadband to the same standard required by the USO, this would fall outside the USO measures in the Bill. Local authorities can, of course, carry out procurements to provide areas with superfast broadband through the UK’s national broadband scheme, and areas covered in this way will not need intervention under the USO.

The second part of the new clause is also unnecessary as local authorities already have the option to publish data about broadband speeds in their area without the need for this legislative provision. They would, in any case, rely on Ofcom data. Ofcom has extensive data-gathering powers and reports to the Government on the availability, take-up and use of broadband in its annual Connected Nations reports. The reports include data at local authority level. In future, once the USO has been introduced, the Connected Nations report will also provide a means of reporting on the broadband USO and whether it is effectively meeting the needs of consumers and businesses. Given those explanations, I hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Mendelsohn]

I thank the Minister for his very full answer in relation to Amendment 12, but it was to a completely different question from the one I had posed, which was about having an objective, efficient and transparent process in establishing providers. His answer concerned delivering on obligations. He should take from the Committee the important message that there is great concern about the nature of the competitive market.

Turning to Amendment 13 and the outside-in approach taken in Germany, I was under the impression that, given the amount of money we have put behind this, we have a similar publicly funded rollout programme. Germany has gone for a different approach—its USO occurs later in the process—and will meet a much higher standard over time. This is one of our big competitive pressures in Europe. Such an approach still has merit because it is the one occasion when you can get the private sector to factor in reasonable infrastructure spend, which it is not doing at the moment.

I thank the Minister for saying that I have been fair-minded concerning Openreach. However, I am sorely tempted to lose that tag. He made the crucial point that if there is a voluntary agreement to meet the requirement, it can stave it off. As he will have seen in the extensive commentary on this issue over the past two weeks, there is great concern that that is exactly its intention and it will delay the process. That is why we have suggested that much swifter action be taken.

I confess that with Amendment 21, we shoehorned in something completely different that does not and cannot really fit within the USO. However, it does provide for effective support for the local and regional economies. We should look at this issue. This is a broader policy arrangement to try to solve some of the problems that we are running headlong into, because the structure of the market just will not service them in the long term and will not maintain our competitiveness. Frankly, when Chattanooga is choo-chooing along at such an incredible pace and we are falling behind, something needs to be done, and that is a bigger policy. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, this is an important part of the Bill. The Electronic Communications Code is the regulatory framework underpinning agreements between site providers and electronic communications operators that wish to install and maintain digital communications infrastructure. The existing code was introduced in 1984 and has been subject to persistent criticism. It is widely perceived as unclear and outdated. The reforms before noble Lords today are the result of extensive research, consultation and collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders and other government departments. This has included review by the Law Commission in 2012, followed by full government consultation in 2015, as well as the commissioning of independent economic research. We believe the reforms will ensure that communications operators are able to deliver the coverage and connectivity that UK consumers need.

Without making a Second Reading speech, I think we should bear in mind when considering the amendments and the Electronic Communications Code the views expressed in previous debates. Noble Lords have roundly condemned the speed and availability of mobile communications. We do want to reduce costs but we do not want to tear up existing arrangements. That is why they are prospective. It is important to say, as the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, mentioned, that we expect most of the contracts to be consensual.

Amendment 23 seeks to introduce a statutory obligation on mobile network operators to invest any savings in improving geographical coverage. The reformed code introduces an essential package of reforms that will give rise to significant savings for industry. Our impact assessment estimates that the industry stands to save around £1 billion over a 20-year period. The Government agree that if reforms are to have real impact, savings must be invested in expanding network infrastructure. Mobile network operators have already made commitments to improve coverage and connectivity. These include the 2014 joint agreement to provide voice and text coverage across 90% of the UK’s geographical area by 2017. There is also a wide-scale industry rollout of 4G technology, led by Telefonica’s licence obligation to deliver to 98% of indoor premises 4G coverage by the end of 2017. This will amount to investment of close to £5 billion in UK infrastructure. However, that is just the beginning. We are confident that the revised code creates the right market incentives to secure real investment in digital communications infrastructure. As such, regulatory intervention to direct industry savings is not necessary.

Amendment 24 seeks to expand the category of persons who can be designated by Ofcom as a code operator under Section 106 of the Communications Act 2003. The amendment would allow a new category of specified persons to use the code to compulsorily acquire land and then offer it back to the market for digital communications use. The code’s purpose is to confer code rights on operators to install apparatus on land. A person whose purpose is only to acquire land to provide to other operators is, in effect, a statutory middleman and an unnecessary addition to the code. We believe that the amendment could reduce the availability of land in the market.

Amendment 25, in the name of my noble friend Lady Byford, seeks to remove the code right to obstruct or interfere with access to land. Naturally, when rolling out or maintaining physical infrastructure, it is sometimes necessary to temporarily interfere with access to land. However, the code makes it clear that an operator cannot obstruct access to land unless the occupier of that land agrees to it or the court so orders. This is a fundamental right to protect landowners’ rights of access, long established in the current code. Its retention was recommended by the Law Commission. To confirm, the previous code provided for a right to obstruct access to the site provider’s land, but not to obstruct other land without the written agreement of the occupier of the other land. The revised code continues this provision, but as with the rest of the revised code, more clearly sets out the code rights applicable to code operators.

My noble friend spoke to Amendments 39 and 40. I do not regard them as frivolous. Clearly a £250,000 combine, which is the sort of thing that will be driving around now, is not frivolous. Her amendments deal with the right to install overhead lines. The right to install overhead lines is subject to paragraph 74(3) of the code, which stipulates that the right to fly overhead lines will not apply if it,

“interferes with the carrying on of any business carried on on that land”.

As such, the Government consider that the code provides sufficient protection for landowners who may be affected by overhead lines, and therefore these amendments are not necessary. In answer to my noble friend’s question, the Law Commission’s consultation considered whether any changes were necessary, and it concluded that they were not. The Government have not received any evidence to suggest that they are.

I hope that in light of these explanations and reassurances, the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Grantchester]

I thank the Minister for his reply. I am well aware of the areas he spoke to in terms of the objectives in the code. However, I am somewhat sceptical that the MNOs have a real case that costs are prohibitive. That has been the draconian whip behind a lot of the code’s provisions. I am even more sceptical that these cost savings will be spent on improvements to the geographical coverage of the rural and more remote areas of the UK. However, we understand what the Minister said.

On Amendment 24, it is somewhat puzzling that the Minister mentioned middlemen in the system. I understand that they are already present in the system in that they have often bought sites from rural landowners, to give them an up-front payment, in order to receive rents when they lease them out to the telecommunications industry. The middlemen in the system have real concerns. They provide a service to the mobile networks in some of their activities congregating sites so that they can introduce an agreed package rather than dealing with each site individually. We will look at the overall thrust of the Minister’s reply on that and, more pertinently, on the big group which is to come because it will all knit together in a more comprehensive package by the time we have finished our deliberations.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

It may be helpful if I say that these are fairly technical amendments, particularly those in the next very big group. It may help the noble Lord if we agree to allow him to think about some of my answers. He can read what I have said, and we can possibly meet before Report to discuss some of the technical aspects of things so that he does not feel it necessary to go through every single scintilla of difference in the Chamber.

[Lord Grantchester]

I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.