Clause 1 - Purpose
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
4:00 pm
Oliver Heald (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Assisted By Shadow Solicitor General), Constitutional Affairs; North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. If there were Ministers like some of those whom we have come to know over recent years, who have been prepared to propose quite draconian laws in the area of civil rights, one would be extremely worried that this measure was on the statute book and that there were no proper safeguards in relation to it.
Amendment No. 20 would redefine the ambit of clause 1 to make it a matter of allowing deregulatory reform and removing burdens from business. New clause 4 would define the term “burden” far more widely than the 2001 Act does, specifically to meet all the concerns that the Government expressed in their document. Those measures would give the Government what they consulted on. They accepted that the removal of burdens should remain part of the picture and be a focus for clause 1. They added simplification measures, which my proposals would allow for, provided that the simplifications could be justified as removing some inconvenience or cost. The Government must have available their own draft along the lines of amendment No. 20 and new clause 4, because it is inconceivable that they would have consulted on such a proposal otherwise. What I propose is basically what the Government consulted on and what was supported by business. The Government have decided to go off on this frolic of their own, to use a legal phrase, and have gone for something much more draconian. However, as the Regulatory Reform Committee said in its excellent report, safeguards are needed. If the Minister will not think again, I will press amendment No. 20 to a vote.