Clause 1 - Power by order to make provision reforming law which imposes burdens

Part of Regulatory Reform Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:30 am on 27 March 2001.

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Photo of Andrew Lansley Andrew Lansley Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Policy Renewal 11:30, 27 March 2001

I am grateful to the Minister for his response—indeed, I even understood it.

The Minister said that his was a flippant remark, but he will not be surprised that we take the view that, although it may not be the Government's intention to introduce unnecessary additional burdens, in practice, the introduction of burdens through regulations is often unnecessary. However, that is a subjective test. At the risk of becoming tortuous, the issue turns on whether, owing to the nature of the quasi-legal meaning of the word ``proportionate'', the word ``necessary'' is not necessary. In plain English, if Ministers intend that we should introduce only burdens that are both necessary and proportionate, why cannot the Bill stipulate that?

You, Mr. Cook, will have heard, even more often than I have, hon. Members say, ``I am not a lawyer, but'', then go on to advance lawyers' arguments as to why we should proceed in a certain direction. The purpose of the Bill is to convey the Government's intention in relation to the imposition of burdens. I stress the point that the Bill enters entirely new territory, and is distinct from the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act. It deals with imposing burdens in ways that are not necessarily precisely intended to reduce and to remove other burdens. It also imposes burdens in places where they are intended to deliver benefits, not necessarily to reduce and to remove burdens. We must therefore be careful about specific phrasing. Our understanding of the word ``proportionate''—