– in the House of Commons at 9:46 pm on 28 February 2001.
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That the Motions in the name of Mr. Secretary Straw relating to the Electoral Commission shall be treated as if they related to instruments subject to the provisions of Standing Order No. 118 (Standing Committees on Delegated Legislation) in respect of which notice has been given that the instruments be approved.—[Mr. Betts.]
Eric Forth
Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst
9:59,
28 February 2001
This is an important motion, covering extremely important material. It refers at some length and in some detail, and with an element of retrospection, to the detailed salary provisions for the Electoral Commission. Those salaries are very substantial indeed and the commission's work is very important, so the matter will require lengthy and detailed consideration by the House, especially as it has a bearing on political parties, election matters and, of course, referendums. So we should start by considering the motion in considerable detail—
Delegated legislation is law made by ministers under powers deriving from Acts of Parliament.
Thousands of pieces of delegated legislation, commonly known as statutory instruments, are passed by Parliament each year.
They enable the government to make minor, technical changes to the law without having to introduce a whole new Act of Parliament.
