Clause 88 - Application of civil law to renewable energy installations etc.
Energy Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Mr Richard Page (South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
I hesitate to make any contribution to this debate, but if I were writing to the letters pages of some tabloids about the Bill, I would sign my letter, ''Confused from South-West Hertfordshire''. A lot of
my colleagues say that I am permanently confused, which does not add much to the debate, but I really do not know where we are on these clauses. I do not know where the responsibility lies if something goes wrong.
My hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York, who trained as a Scottish advocate and has knowledge of the law of the sea, asked several questions about previous clauses that to my mind have not been adequately answered. I am no legal expert, and I am not too certain where I would be leading the Committee if I debated any of these points at length, but the position seems to be that nobody knows where the ultimate responsibility lies.
In responding on the last clause, the Minister said that in the event of a prosecution, this would be a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions in England or for the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, but for the procurator fiscal in Scotland. Clause 88 carries these words:
''Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide''.
They run through the piece. Does that mean that in localised areas in which activities take place, the DPP and the procurator fiscal can handle these matters, but if it all goes wrong, the Government, through an overriding Order in Council, can sort the matter out and put things straight?