Clause 1 - Power by order to make provision reforming law which imposes burdens
Regulatory Reform Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Mr Brian Cotter (Weston-Super-Mare, Liberal Democrat)
The Programming Sub-Committee discussed the fact that a great deal of work was done in the other place, but through this and other amendments I want to highlight certain matters that could cause concern. Amendment No. 36 would amend the wording of subsection (1). Amendment No. 35 would add a new subsection (3A), which states:
``No order under this section may be made unless each House of Parliament, following any report made by a select committee of that House charged with functions of examining orders made under this Act, has passed a resolution expressing the opinion that the order is consistent with one or more of the objects set out in subsection 1(a) to (d).'.''
If the amendment were accepted, no regulatory reform order could be made unless we and both Deregulation Committees agree that it is consistent with the objectives in clause 1. The amendment would also formally require both Houses of Parliament to ratify such reports.
Although clause 4(1) states that an order
``shall be made by statutory instrument.'',
and clause 4(2) states:
``no such order shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.'',
the amendment to clause 1 is still necessary to provide an extra safeguard against misuse of the procedure. The Bill might well prove an immensely useful tool for removing any unnecessary regulation—indeed, we hope that it will—but the concern remains that it will confer significant constitutional powers on a Minister, who will be able to legislate by order.
I accept that it might be necessary to introduce new regulations to replace those that are being removed, but we must strike a balance and ensure that safeguards are in place. I further accept that debating every order in the House could take up a great deal of parliamentary time, and we do not want to do that. However, the amendment is necessary in order to establish a mandatory provision to examine extensively any order made under the Bill in relation to the criteria laid down in clause 1.
It is true that the Minister will have to explain in a document laid before Parliament how an order relates to the provisions in clause 1. However, the amendment would perhaps deter those who might want to abuse the power in the clause in future. It specifically draws attention to the fact that parliamentary scrutiny should occur with regard to the objects outlined in clause 1.
An order would have to be approved after favourable Select Committee reports and ratification by both Houses that would concentrate on those objectives. The amendment is intended to place in the Bill a statutory requirement that a Select Committee of each House must report to Parliament on the proposed order. Although it is not for the Government to prescribe parliamentary scrutiny procedures, it is necessary to outline how the procedure should operate because of the unprecedented powers that are available in the Bill. Indeed, concerns about that matter have been expressed in the other place. Additionally, the future operation of the other place is in a state of transitional reform. I shall be interested to hear the Minister's response in light of general concerns about the lack of balance on deregulation in the Bill.