Clause 54 - Unlawfully deposited waste etc
Anti-social Behaviour Bill
10:00 am
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
We wish to probe the Government on this clause. I was glad to see that the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Mrs. Brooke) has added her name to amendment No. 82. However, I was puzzled that the name of her colleague the hon. Member for Ludlow had not also been added: I did not know whether that was an accident or there had been a Liberal Democrat split.
We want to probe the Government because they are seeking to add to section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which is a good piece of legislation that was introduced by the previous Conservative Government—as you, Mr. Cran, and Committee members know. The Government want to introduce more Henry VIII-type powers for the Secretary of State. I assume that, in this case, that would be the Secretary of State at what is now called DEFRA—the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Minister is nodding. Most of the clauses in the Bill that contain Henry VIII-type powers give them to the Home Secretary: however, with regard to some areas, such as waste and litter, which we are currently addressing, they are given to the Secretary of State at DEFRA. If I may express a personal view, Mr. Cran, that is one of the most inelegant names that has ever been given to a Government Department, and it is an enormous shame that the important interests of agriculture are no longer recognised by the present Labour Government: that shows, once again, that they do not understand the countryside.