To keep people up to date. The guidance was approved by the Commons Committee yesterday. The committee was not empowered to amend the guidance. There will be a motion for the House of Commons to approve the Guidance in the near future. This will not be the subject of a debate.

The guidance has completed its committee processes in the Lords and is scheduld for final debate on June 8th. In addition to the motion for approval there is a Conservative motion regretting that the fees have not yet been set by separate regulations.

In reaction to some concerns expressed by local autorities about the difficulty of the initial applications for licences occuring in the runup nto Christmas, the Minister has indicated that the first appointed day may be delayed to January 5th, which would reuslt in the new licences coming into force in October next year.

Richard