No, I do not think that the hon. Gentleman really was trying to help. This is a serious amendment, as the Minister has appreciated. It was designed to provoke the sort of helpful and explanatory answer that the Minister has given. I will not pretend that I have been entirely convinced by everything, not least because of the point made by the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) that the Bill already includes the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, which will do the umbrella work on the conservation side. Whether that becomes the repository for the remains of the Forestry Commission or whether there was to be a joint forestry commission would be a moot point, but the principle is established for the rest of conservation.

The Minister also referred to the forestry estate, but I hope that I made it clear earlier that I was not talking about that. Part of the Forestry Commission’s problem is that, to use a phrase that is now politically incorrect, it is trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, inasmuch as it is managing a forestry estate and trying, unsuccessfully, to run it commercially, while trying to support the private sector. I referred earlier to the imbalance of resources between the two. To shift the issue of dealing with the private sector to Natural England would be a constructive way of addressing the contradiction that already exists.

The Minister somewhat tantalisingly raised points about the later part of the Bill, in which the Government propose to grant powers and responsibilities to outside bodies. He tempts us to think that that is a way around the problems that we have discussed; perhaps we will examine that when we reach that part of the Bill. However, I am genuinely grateful to the Minister. He has done exactly what I hoped that he would do in response to the amendment, which is to clarify Government thinking. I am not   entirely convinced and we may wish to return to the problem at a later date, but for now I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.