[Mr James Gray in the Chair]

I welcome everybody to the Committee stage of the Control of Horses Bill, which I hope will be a pleasant and enjoyable occasion. I am sure you will all find it to be so. I am a stern, traditional and old-fashioned sort of chap; one word out of place and Members will be in deep trouble. I congratulate the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy) on getting his Bill to this stage. I hope he will enjoy the remaining stages.

It is worth reminding the Committee that by order of the House on 25 November, there is an instruction that the Committee

“has power to make provision in the Bill about the powers of owners or occupiers of any land in England in relation to horses which are on the land without lawful authority.”

In other words, what we are discussing may in theory go beyond what is included in the long title of the Bill. That instruction allows us to do that, and copies are available in the room.