Clause 8 - Parliamentary consideration of proposals
Regulatory Reform Bill
10:45 am
Mr Graham Stringer (Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office; Manchester, Blackley, Labour)
I agree with the hon. Member for South Dorset (Mr. Bruce) that it is important to have time for consultation and to consider representations. We debated the initial consultation process on Tuesday. The Government are committed to a standard three-month consultation period. The procedure is extracted from the 1994 Act, under which the Committees had 60 days to consider representations and to undertake their own consultation, followed by a further 15-day period. If the House does not sit for four days, or is in recess, the time that it is not sitting is not included in the consultation period.
There must be a balance between detailed consultation and time to get things done, and I think that the Bill achieves that balance.