Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]

My Lords, I am going to intervene very briefly to say that it is good that an agreement has been reached on the difficult issue of the processes and arrangements relating to private prosecutions. As with many of the other issues we have discussed during the passage of this Bill, private prosecutions are a complex issue, and not one that can be resolved swiftly or even with a clause or two on the face of the Bill. I thank the Minister for meeting my noble friend Lord Marks and me on a number of occasions during the Bill to discuss how we can set in place mechanisms to ensure that the Government’s changes will not have surprising or unintended consequences. My noble friend Lord Marks will talk about the details of those changes, which he proposed to the Conservatives at the previous stage of ping-pong; their amendment then reflected his proposal, for which we thank them. I welcome the government proposals in Motion A. Amendment 4D includes the two key elements of any effective organisation: that there is data to inform decisions—in this form, an impact assessment that would be published—and that the Lord Chancellor must consult the Law Society, the General Council of the Bar and others considered appropriate. I hope that the Lord Chancellor will not use these methods just once. My noble friend Lord Marks has identified core action that will work elsewhere in the court system, where reform may well be needed. As we come to the end of this Bill, I also want to put on record the support and help of Elizabeth Plummer in our Whips’ Office, and the many individuals and organisations who have worked with us, especially the offices of the London Victims’ Commissioner and the Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman. We would not be where we are today without them, and I thank them. Finally, I want to return to the discussions with the Minister. During the passage of the whole of the Bill, her officials have been enormously helpful and her personal willingness to discuss, both publicly at the Dispatch Box and privately in meetings, speaks volumes about her approach. I thank her for that and look forward to working with her again.