Schedule 3
Climate Change Bill [Lords]
2:00 pm
Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Oldham East and Saddleworth, Labour)
I share the hon. Lady’s views. “An idea ahead of their time” was the response of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Let me reassure the hon. Lady in two ways. First, we do not consider that the Bill would be the appropriate framework to introduce such a personal carbon-trading scheme, given the robust scrutiny by Parliament that such a scheme would rightly require.
I shall give the hon. Lady further assurance. Part 1 of the schedule sets out the procedure to be followed where regulations are made by a single national authority. It sets out the procedures for both Parliament and the devolved legislatures, in which support for the regulations is required. Part 2 sets out the process for regulation jointly made by the Secretary of State and/or Welsh Ministers and/or the relevant Northern Ireland Department. A separate arrangement applies to trading schemes that involve Scotland, which is covered by part 3 of the schedule.
Where the affirmative procedure applies, if either House of Parliament or a relevant devolved legislature does not approve the instrument, it cannot be made. That should cover the hon. Lady’s point. If the negative procedure applies, again if either House of Parliament or the relevant devolved legislature resolves that the regulation should be annulled, the instrument has no further effect and may be revoked by Order in Council. For those two reasons—common sense and procedural—the provisions satisfy her point. I asked for that point to be made as well.