Clause 21 - Scope of emergency regulations
Civil Contingencies Bill
3:45 pm
Ms Fiona Mactaggart (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Race Equality, Community Policy and Civil Renewal), Home Office; Slough, Labour)
Were a Minister, or any person making a regulation, not able to show that they had satisfied the requirements of the triple lock, they would not have the powers conferred by the Bill.
I was going to go through the amendments part by part, but it might be helpful to review for a moment the effects that the list has. Clause 21(3) specifies provisions that may be included, but the list is not exhaustive, which is an important point. Emergency regulations can include provisions that are not listed in clause 21(3). However, by being fulsome—that is a word that I used earlier—we sought to give a flavour of the kind of provisions that might be included in emergency regulations. The provisions of the subsection will have an effect on the scope of the power in two ways: first, the more unusual a provision is, the less likely it is that a court would consider that it could legitimately be included in emergency regulations unless it is specifically mentioned in the clause; secondly, if the clause makes a specific provision, a court is likely to conclude that emergency regulations must be made in accordance with it. For example, clause 21(3)(o) provides that emergency regulations may have an effect in
''(i) an area of the territorial sea,
(ii) an area within British fishery limits, or
(iii) an area of the continental shelf''.
The courts might conclude that the regulations are precluded from having an effect in any other part of the sea around the United Kingdom. I hope that that helps in understanding the way in which the list operates.
Let me turn to amendment No. 44; I shall return to the other points later. The hon. Member for Newark was concerned about conferring functions that are necessary for the resolution of an emergency. Why should they be given to the Minister of the Crown, the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales, a Northern Ireland department, a co-ordinator or any other specified person? Incidentally, the reason for listing the National Assembly is that it includes Executive and legislative functions; the Executive operates within the National Assembly.
The conferrals have given rise to concern. Of course, it would have been possible to refer simply to
the conferral of functions on any specified person. Again, we sought to indicate through the list the way in which the power might be exercised. It is likely that emergency regulations will confer functions on one of the specified persons, and that is why the initial list was drawn up.
Could the functions be conferred on others? That is an important question. What other specified persons might be included? The hon. Member for Newark referred to tinpot individuals. There may be circumstances in which it is proper to confer functions on a chief constable, a local authority chief executive or an Army officer, if the clear responsibilities in an emergency need to be augmented with additional powers. The point is to try to ensure that the additional powers rest with the people who can most properly exercise them. This is not an attempt to appoint a team of tinpot dictators in an emergency situation. It is an attempt to continue the approach that we have taken throughout the Bill of ensuring that responsibility rests with those who have the most appropriate skills for the situation. One might not be able to predict in advance precisely to whom the responsibility should be given, as it will be different in different kinds of emergencies.
The regulations will set out the responsibilities. If the responsibility is, for example, to co-ordinate people in order to move them to another area, it would be carried out by someone other than the person whose responsibility it is to inform people more widely. That is the reason for having a breadth of possible co-ordinators.
The hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) asked about the National Assembly's role in appointing a co-ordinator in Wales. That will be covered by a concordat between the United Kingdom Government and the devolved Administrations. The Assembly will be consulted on the appointment except when the urgency of the case prevents it. The devolved Administrations have worked closely with the Government throughout the development of the Bill and are content with it as drafted.