Clause 8
Local Democracy, Economic Developmentand Construction Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Paul Goodman (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Wycombe, Conservative)
I assume that this clause is one of a kind that is often found in Bills and is a sort of belt-and-braces exercise for Ministers that allows them to shovel in statutory instruments at a later date to amend the legislation. There is a great deal of debate and discussion in Parliament about whether, over many years, the Executive have tended to use statutory instruments too often. I will not get into that argument this afternoon, but as a signal to the Minister, I will point out that clause 8(1) contains the fateful words
“under any provision of this Chapter”
and, therefore, we are not disposed to look on it with a favourable eye.