Clause 21 - Scope of emergency regulations
Civil Contingencies Bill
2:45 pm
Ms Fiona Mactaggart (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Race Equality, Community Policy and Civil Renewal), Home Office; Slough, Labour)
I shall begin at the point where the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire ended—the issue of whether this is an exhaustive list. He rightly noted that I had previously said in a debate on clause 18 that we had sought to be comprehensive. It is important to recognise that there is a difference between the structure of clause 18 and that of clause 21. In clause 18 we have sought to be absolutely exhaustive, in order to ensure that people understand the circumstances of an emergency in which a power could be used. The hon. Gentleman will note that clause 21(2) contains an introduction, which says ''In particular''. We recognise that that does not have the comprehensive quality that I made so much of when dealing with clause 18. That is important because clause 21 was designed not to put a boundary around something but to inform and to ensure that the way in which the power can be used and the sort of regulations that can be made will go with the grain. We continue to be committed to transparency and to be as fulsome—that is a better word than comprehensive in this case—as we can.