Clause 16 - Super-affirmative resolution procedure
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
6:00 pm
Mark Harper (Shadow Minister, Defence; Forest of Dean, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 1, in clause 16, page 8, line 40, at end insert—
‘(2A)If during the 60 day period an amendment, or amendments, to an order under section 1 is agreed by—
(a)both Houses of Parliament, or
(b)the relevant committees in both Houses of Parliament,
the Minister shall either—
(a)make the amendment or amendments to the order, or
(b)withdraw the order.’.
Clause 16 refers to the process for the super-affirmative resolution procedure. Under the Bill, all the Minister has to do is to
“have regard to ... any representations”
that he receives and to
“any resolution of either House of Parliament, and ... any recommendations of a committee of either House of Parliament charged with reporting on the draft order”.
If he does, he can simply make an order pursuant to the original draft and lay before Parliament a statement giving details of the representations that he has received. That is not adequate, particularly given the Bill’s scope.
Amendment No. 1 says that if “both Houses of Parliament” or
“the relevant Committees in both Houses of Parliament”
suggest an amendment to the order, the Minister must do one of two things: he must make the recommended amendment or withdraw the order; he cannot simply proceed and ignore the resolutions of either House of Parliament. That provision is much more robust than the one in the Bill. Given the procedural safeguards that we tried to insert at earlier stages, which have not been accepted, the provision would be a huge improvement, giving to Parliament—either the Houses themselves or Committees—the power to insist on amendments. If they were not accepted, the Minister would have to withdraw the order and start all over again. That is the case in a nutshell, and I should be interested to hear whether the Minister either is minded to accept our proposal in total, or thinks that there is some scope for beefing up the clause as drafted.