Clause 9 - Powers of statutory bodies
International Development Bill
4:00 pm
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
Praise where praise is due. That is admirable.
Amendment No. 18 opens a can of worms in respect of devolution, as it relates to the differences between the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. The amendment is about Northern Ireland.
Coupled with the clause is schedule 2, which details the statutory bodies to which the clause applies. If the amendment were deemed necessary and accepted by the Minister, an alteration to schedule 2 would result, however, in the light of the clause as drafted, I must ask whether schedule 2 contains a full and exhaustive list of statutory bodies to which the clause applies. Bodies such as the Scottish tourist board are not included.
I suppose that the basic questions raised by the amendment relate to what the Secretary of State is and is not in charge of and why there is no reference to Northern Ireland if the provisions apply to Wales and Scotland. I did not table the amendment and I was not prepared to speak to it, I but felt that it was only courteous to move it for the Government. Labour Back Benchers have been so well controlled by their Whip—they have not participated in our discussions—that I assumed that the amendment must have been Government-inspired. I hope that I was not wrong to assume that the Minister would therefore not object to it on the grounds that there was some inadvertent drafting error. I look forward to what he has to say.