Clause 7
Local Democracy, Economic Developmentand Construction Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden, Conservative)
May I ask a little more about the phrase “with or without modifications”? I think that the terms are loosely worded and badly drafted, because it is not clear whether the Act can be modified, or whether statutory instruments introduced under the Act can be different from legislation relating to the Isles of Scilly or elsewhere. It has already been said that the statutory instruments can differ between local authorities, and different wording was used. The legislation implies that the Minister is given freedom to mould the Act—the primary legislation—according to her whim and fantasy, to fit the people of the Isles of Scilly. I do not think that those people should be left to the caprice of Ministers. It should be for Parliament to lay down what the primary legislation is, rather than saying that it may or may not be modified.