Clause 27
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
1:15 pm
Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Portsmouth North, Labour)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr. Illsley. I am glad that there is a broad welcome from both Opposition parties to the principles behind the clause. As the hon. Member for Wycombe pointed out, it was fully welcomed in the other place.
On the question of primary legislation, it is true that at least one guild has been able to amend the rights of admission to include women, but much depends on how the rights of admission were established—if in a charter, on what the charter says. Although some guilds have found sufficient flexibility in their rules to enable them to admit women or make other amendments to their admissions practices, others have not been able to do so because the charters or other sources of law from which their rules derive have no simple process for amendment. The clause will make that easier and provide a framework to make changes in the future. That is why it should appear in primary legislation.