Meg Munn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Sheffield, Heeley, Labour)

This clause, too, is necessary to ensure a smooth transition. It provides for specific actions started by one of the three commissions, such as legal proceedings, consultation exercises or guidance documents, to continue to be undertaken by that commission after the function has been removed or the commission has formally ceased to exist. It also provides for an action started by an existing commission and transferred to the CEHR to be carried out by the CEHR as if it had started the action.

That is an important part of the transition progress, and ensures that the work programmes of the three commissions can continue. Clearly, we would not want legal proceedings to be jeopardised through a suspension or halt because the commission that had brought the proceedings no longer had a right to do so. Subsection (3) allows a code of practice issued by one of the existing commissions to continue to have effect after the function has been removed or the commission has been dissolved. The code of practice can be revoked by order by the Secretary of State at the request of the CEHR subject to negative resolution. It may also be revised by the CEHR under the terms specified in clause 15. Any consultation already undertaken under the code of practice by an existing commission prior to its dissolution or the removal of its function can be relied upon by the CEHR for the purposes of clause 15.