Clause 27 - Regulations under Chapter 1: consultation
Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Mr Michael Meacher (Minister of State (the Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Oldham West and Royton, Labour)
As the hon. Gentleman said, the amendment relates to the requirement for allocating authorities to consult before making regulations. It would require them to consult bodies and persons representative of the interests of disposal authorities or of the operation of landfills in its area, even if those interests were not affected by the regulations. However, as the hon. Gentleman pointed out, that may not automatically be clear.
Nevertheless, it is possible to envisage cases in which the interests of disposal authorities or landfill operators may not be affected by the regulations covered in this part of the Bill. For example, there would be no need to consult landfill operators on regulations made under clause 25, because those would alter penalties that did not affect them. Equally, there
would be no need to consult disposal authorities on regulations made under clause 13 about the powers to inspect records held by landfill operators. However, I assure the hon. Gentleman that we intend to carry out comprehensive consultation on all regulations.
If I may be permitted to say to, I sometimes think that one of the Government's problems is consultation-itis. We consult not once but two or even three times. I therefore think it odd to be chastised for not allowing for adequate consultation. It would be a waste of time and resources to require allocating authorities to consult interest groups if the interests of those groups were not affected. There will be the fullest consultation, but it is common sense to restrict it to those groups that are directly affected. That is the basic position, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept it and withdraw the amendment.