Clause 5 - Preliminary consultation
Regulatory Reform Bill [Lords]
5:45 pm
Mr Ian Stewart (Eccles, Labour)
My hon. Friend rightly rejects the argument of the hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire. The Select Committee on Deregulation has the most rigorous consultative programme of any statutory body of which I am aware. The consultative programme is excellent and has been seen as the model for good practice in other areas of government. If Opposition Members of the Deregulation Committee had turned up, they would have been able to explain that to the hon. Gentleman.