Clause 51 - Financial penalties
Water Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr Elliot Morley (Minister of State (Environment and Agri-Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Scunthorpe, Labour)
It is important that a Bill states as much as it needs to in order to be clear about the intentions and circumstances, but it is a difficult problem. If we tried to put in a Bill every single circumstance, exemption and issue for consideration, we would be walking around with volumes the size of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. There must be a balance. A Bill has to be drafted in a way that is clear and not open to misinterpretation, but there must also be an element of flexibility to deal with issues that are difficult to predict. I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman's general point, but we must be realistic about the way in which legislation is formulated.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 51 ordered to stand part of the Bill.