Water Bill – in the House of Commons at 8:45 pm on 6 January 2014.
Amendments made: 14, page 69, line 42, after ‘retail authorisations’, insert ‘or restricted retail authorisations’.
Amendment 15, page 69, line 42, leave out ‘Secretary of State’ and insert ‘Minister’.
Amendment 16, page 70, line 3, leave out ‘Secretary of State’ and insert ‘Minister’.
Amendment 17, page 70, line 6, leave out ‘Secretary of State’ and insert ‘Minister’.
Amendment 18, page 70, line 8, leave out ‘Secretary of State’s’ and insert ‘Minister’s’.
Amendment 19, page 70, line 31, at end insert—
‘(6) In this section—
“the Minister” means——
(a) the Secretary of State, in relation to supplies of water made in accordance with a retail authorisation;(b) the Welsh Ministers, in relation to supplies of water made in accordance with a restricted retail authorisation;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.”.’.
Amendment 20, page 70, line 47, leave out ‘prescribed’ and insert ‘specified in the direction’.
Amendment 21, page 71, leave out lines 16 to 18 and insert—
‘(2) In the application of section 39 by virtue of subsection (1)—
(a) a reference to a water undertaker is to be treated as a reference to a water supply licensee, and
(b) a reference to the Secretary of State is to be treated as a reference to the Minister (as defined in section 38ZA(6)).
(3) Regulations under section 38ZA are to be made by statutory instrument.
(4) A statutory instrument containing regulations under section 38ZA is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of—
(a) either House of Parliament, in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State;
(b) the National Assembly for Wales, in the case of regulations made by the Welsh Ministers.
(5) Section 213(2) to (2B) applies to regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under section 38ZA as it applies to regulations made by the Secretary of State.”’.—(Dan Rogerson.)
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
