Clause 11 - Consultation
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
4:15 pm
Christopher Chope (Christchurch, Conservative)
Sir Nicholas, the clause is very important, and I was surprised that the Minister did not want to introduce it. It is the only effective brake that he is offering upon the exercise of the tyranny of the majority. Such a brake is what we are trying to ensure, as the hon. Member for Cambridge referred to—we are trying to protect minority rights. The Minister is saying that the statutory consultation in clause 11 will achieve that. Will he indicate in what circumstances he believes a Minister’s response to a consultation should have to accept the representations that have been made to allow the subject to go to the next stage? I am not suggesting that the Minister would necessarily reply, for instance, “If 95 per cent. of the representations received are in one direction as against another,” but what criteria will he apply to the issue of consultation? How will he assess the weight and merits of the arguments put forward, and whether they should lead to abbreviated procedure or the proposal either being amended or the subject of primary legislation?
I know that clause 11 is explained further by clause 12, but it is incumbent upon the Minister, since he is relying on clause 11 as part of the veto mechanism, to be a little more explicit about the circumstances in which a public consultation should act as a brake upon the Executive and the exercise of the tyranny of the majority.