Clause 53 - Pre-commencement consultation
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 148, in
clause 53, page 24, line 32, after 'force', insert
'but after this Act has received Royal Assent'.
The clause legitimises consultation that takes place before the relevant provision of the Bill comes into force. I have always thought that this is a slightly dubious process, but let us gloss over that for the moment. This is a probing amendment, because I hope that the Minister of State will tell me that purpose of the clause is to ensure that such consultation, taking
place before the relevant clause commences, should not take place before the Royal Assent is granted to the Act.
The amendment may be inelegantly worded, but the purpose is clear: we must not get into a situation where a consultation or discussion that took place last year, the year before or 10 years ago can be used in support of a claim that adequate consultation has taken place in respect of some matter dealt with in this Bill.
We reluctantly concede the principle of pre-commencement consultation in the interests of speeding things up, but it must be after the Act has received the Royal Assent. The context in which a consultation takes place will be relevant to the responses that are received, and the consultees must be able to see that context. That means that the Act of Parliament must be finished, even if the relevant section has not yet commenced. I hope that the Minister will be able to confirm that no consultation prior to the Royal Assent would be treated as being a pre-commencement consultation for the purposes of this clause. It will then be possible for me to seek leave to withdraw the amendment.