Clause 11 - Consultation
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
4:30 pm
Mark Harper (Shadow Minister, Defence; Forest of Dean, Conservative)
I have three questions on clause 11. First, the Minister talked about the proposals changing the function of a statutory body and subsection (1)(b) states that it would be in order to consult those bodies, which is fair enough. Will the hon. Gentleman comment on the fact that it would be up to the Minister to consult people whom he felt were representative of those bodies rather than the bodies themselves? I am not quite sure where he was driving on that point.
Secondly, exactly what is meant by the Assembly in subsection (1)(c)? Is it the Assembly itself or a Committee of the Assembly? I understand that a Committee of the Assembly tends to take care of this type of discussion. Following the changes proposed in the Government of Wales Bill, is it the Welsh Assembly Executive or its legislative arm?
My third point about consultation follows from the Minister’s helpful letter to members of the Committee about clarifying local acts. The Minister referred to what he said at our sitting last week in column 66 and quoted from “Halsbury’s Laws of England”, which he said confirm that an Act is said to be local if it is limited in respect of area or extent to a relatively small part of the country. The reason for its relevance comes down to the consultation. To give the Minister an example, I choose at random the Forestry Act 1981, where it relates to a statutory body—the Forestry Commission—the Minister would clearly consult the Forestry Commission. The nature of some of these local Acts is that they relate to a particular area and affect everyone who lives in that area. Subsection (1)(e) provides that the Minister must consult
“other persons as he considers appropriate.”