Clause 11 - Prescribed animal welfare bodies
Hunting Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Alun Michael (Minister of State (Rural Affairs), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour/Co-operative)
I am not sure that I follow the argument, but the purpose of being able to make grants is to ensure that nothing gets in the way of a just result and to make certain that the animal welfare perspective has been fully taken into account. It is not about tilting the balance. As I suggested to the hon. Gentleman earlier, we should not see the matter as having two sides. There is an applicant and a registrar or tribunal, which must make a decision. It is a question of reaching the right decision in the circumstances, based on the evidence. We must ensure that the animal welfare perspective is fully played into the consideration by the designated organisation.
My hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) asked whether it is right to include such powers in the Bill. The answer is yes, because proper powers must be included in legislation that may involve public expenditure. If public expenditure is possible, it is sensible to allow for it. However, I made it clear that I come with no prejudice about spending money on this, that or another thing. Only in pursuit of the activities set out in the Bill would we see the possibility arising whereby we might need that permissive power to be used.
I was asked about other examples in law. As with that of child welfare, the trouble is that drawing exact parallels is always difficult. In the case of the child, the parent may have one point of view and the local authority social services department may have another, while the police may be examining the possible commission of offences relating to child safety. The only useful parallel to be drawn with a guardian ad litem is that it is an example of a particular perspective—that of the child—being played into the equation. That is the only point of comparison I seek to make.
Government bodies sometimes make grants in other ways to ensure that policy purposes are achieved, such as in the Housing Act 1996:
''The Secretary of State or a local housing authority may give assistance by way of a grant or loan to voluntary organisations concerned with homelessness or matters relating to homelessness''.
There are various other examples, such as grants to organisations concerned with disabled persons under
the Disability (Grants) Act 1993. I do not wish to go into detail. I merely quote those examples because, when the legislation was under consideration, a mechanism was included to allow the Secretary of State to fulfil the requirements of the Bill in question by making grants.