Member

I say to noble Lords across the House that the Bill is the end product of a long period of consultation. The Bill was considered following the public inquiry by Sir John Saunders, which the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, mentioned. It is the product of legislation considered by the previous Government, of consultation in draft, of Home Affairs Select Committee scrutiny, and of two wider consultations that took place with the public in 2021 and 2023. It is also the product of discussion with impacted stakeholders, which included premises with capacity above 200, 300, 400, 500 and, to take the point of the noble Viscount, Lord Goschen, up to 800 and beyond—all those figures were discussed with stakeholders over that period of time—and of discussions with security experts. This Government inherited a Bill on 4 July that we have made changes to. Again, they will potentially not find favour with all Members of this House, which includes raising the threshold from 100 to 200. Ultimately, we have to land on a figure, and the Government have determined that that figure should be 200.