Member

I will concentrate my remarks on this group on the agent of change principle. I hope that I am nudging on an open door with the Government on this issue, but I will set out the principle, which I think is well established. I was grateful to have the opportunity to chair the inquiry into the Licensing Act 2003, when we looked at this seven or eight years ago. One of the recommendations of that committee was that the agent of change principle should be a mandatory recommendation, not advisory as it is at the moment. This is one of the areas of disagreement that reflects the earlier discussion we had on SUDS. I am probably testing the patience of the Minister, but I repeat that we need mandatory guidance in this regard.