Clause 3 - Provision of accommodation
Courts Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I add my welcome to your chairmanship of the proceedings this afternoon, Mr. Illsley.
I am slightly disappointed that the Government have not accepted one of the mini triumphs of my noble Friend Baroness Anelay of St. Johns in another place. Having considered the matter, I do not propose to resist amendment No. 18 this afternoon. The Minister sent me a helpful letter and the Under-Secretary of State, Lord Filkin, sent a not dissimilar one to my noble Friend the Baroness Anelay, explaining the basis of the Government's thinking.
The Minister has explained why Baroness Anelay put forward such a proposal and she was able to persuade sufficient noble Lords and Ladies to inflict defeat on the Government. However, it is useful to
have had it stated on the record this afternoon that the firm duty—which was what our amendment was seeking to achieve—is acknowledged by the Minister.
When I read Lord Filkin's letter to my noble friend Baroness Anelay, it seemed that what Ministers were being told was coming from parliamentary counsel. If the word had been changed and allowed to remain, parliamentary counsel was worried that there might be some confusion. As the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome will be aware, we had some of those concerns expressed by parliamentary counsel on the Crime (International Co-operation) Bill that we finished in Committee last week. I said on that occasion that sometimes parliamentary drafting as an arcane skill is rather different from the way in which Acts are read by ordinary people.
Nevertheless, we do not want to have any confusion. While we preferred our wording of the amendment that was passed in another place, we do not want to undermine the basis of what the Minister has said, which acknowledges that there is a clear duty on the part of the Lord Chancellor. Given that the hon. Gentleman said that on the record, it will be recorded in Hansard, so it lays to rest our worries about clause 3 as originally drafted.
In the light of the Minister's helpful reassurances both in his letters and in what he has said this afternoon, I shall not pursue the matter further or press it to a Division. We accept that on this occasion—although not on many others—the Government can reverse what was done in another place.