I beg to move amendment No. 1, in

clause 1, page 1, line 23, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 2, in

clause 1, page 2, line 31, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 3, in

clause 1, page 3, line 5, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 4, in

clause 1, page 3, line 33, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 5, in

clause 1, page 3, line 46 , leave out from 'above' to second 'be' in line 47 and insert

'as to the making of an election (which requires an election to be made either on or before the day on which the child was born or within the period of 42 or, as the case may be, 21 days from that day) shall nevertheless'.

No. 6, in

clause 1, page 3, line 48, leave out 'outside' and insert 'after the end of'.

No. 7, in

clause 1, page 4, line 2, leave out 'outside the required period' and insert

'after the end of the period mentioned in subsection (5F) above'.

No. 8, in

clause 3, page 5, line 11, leave out 'within' and insert

'not later than the end of'.

No. 9, in

clause 3, page 5, line 18, leave out 'within' and insert

'not later than the end of'.

No. 10, in

clause 3, page 5, line 25, leave out 'within' and insert

'not later than the end of'.

No. 11, in

clause 3, page 5, line 32, leave out from 'words' to end of line 33 and insert

'from ''(which requires'' to ''that day)'' there were substituted ''(which requires an election to be made not later than the end of a period of six months)''.'.

No. 12, in

schedule, page 7, line 18, leave out from 'not' to 'enter' in line 19.

No. 13, in

schedule, page 7, line 25, at end insert

'unless the condition in subsection (1A) below is satisfied.

(1A) The condition in this subsection is satisfied if—

(a) the mother requests the registrar to make such an entry in the register and produces the relevant documents; or

(b) in the case of the death or inability of the mother, the relevant documents are produced by some other person who is a qualified informant.'.

No. 14, in

schedule, page 7, line 38, leave out from '1990,' to end of line 40 and insert

'if the condition in section 10ZA(1A) of this Act is satisfied; or' ''.

No. 15, in

schedule, page 8, line 1, leave out paragraph 5 and insert—

'5 After section 10A(2)(b) of that Act (persons to sign register on reregistration), there shall be inserted—

''(bb) in a case within paragraph (ff) of that subsection, the mother or (as the case may be) the qualified informant shall also sign the register;''.'.

No. 16, in

schedule, page 8, line 10, leave out from 'not' to 'enter' in line 11.

No. 17, in

schedule, page 8, line 17, at end insert

'unless the condition in subsection (1A) below is satisfied.

(1A) The condition in this subsection is satisfied if—

(a) the mother requests the registrar to make such an entry in the register and produces the relevant documents; or

(b) in the case of the death or inability of the mother, the relevant documents are produced by some other person who is a qualified informant.'.

No. 18, in

schedule, page 8, line 38, leave out from 'the' to end of line 39 and insert

'condition in paragraph (1A) is satisfied.

(1A) The condition in this paragraph is satisfied if—

(a) the mother requests the registrar to make such an entry in the register and produces the relevant documents; or

(b) in the case of the death or inability of the mother, the relevant documents are produced by some other person who is a qualified informant.'.

No. 19, in

schedule, page 9, line 9, leave out from '1990,' to end of line 11 and insert

'if the condition in Article 14A(1A) is satisfied.''.'.

The amendments make a relatively straightforward and minor change to the Bill. In order for a deceased man to be registered as the father of the child, the Bill requires a written election from the mother within 42 days from the day on which the child was born. The written election and the other relevant documents, including the man's written consent, must then be produced to the Registrar General to effect that registration. The standard period in law for registering a birth is 42 days, or 21 days in the case of Scotland.

It was suggested that some flexibility should be built into the Bill to allow for situations in which the mother may be unable, either through her death or incapacity, to make the election and request for registration within 42 days of the birth. Thankfully, those circumstances are likely to be rare. Nevertheless, my amendments attempt to accommodate such a situation. They would give the woman the opportunity to put her wishes in writing at the earliest opportunity; for example, as soon as she knew that she was pregnant, as well as within 42 days following the birth.

The Bill already gives the Registrar General scope to extend the 42-day period after the birth where he or she is satisfied that there is a compelling reason to do so. The Bill also already allows extra time—up to six months—for registration or re-registration where children are born before the Bill comes into force.

The amendment follows a similar principle in allowing additional flexibility for the woman to record her wishes in case the worst should happen. Amendments Nos. 2, 3 and 4 make identical changes to those made by amendment No. 1, and amendments Nos. 5, 6 and 7 make consequential changes for the purposes of clarification.

May I first say, Mr. Conway, that it is pleasant to serve under your chairmanship? I think that this discussion should take place in the least possible time. Opposition Members do not wish to detain the Committee or to obstruct the Bill. The arguments were well rehearsed by, for this purpose, my hon. Friend—and certainly my neighbour—the Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Clarke), and there is wide support for the Bill. The amendments are sensible in including as much flexibility as is reasonably possible, and that is no problem providing that it is, in registrar's terms, ''secure''.

I have only one further tiny point to make, on which the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr. McCabe) may wish to reflect, if he is unable to respond to it today. I understand that the idea is to enable pre-birth expression of interest—the Minister nods. I suppose, however, that there could be—I am being not a lawyer but perhaps a barrack-room lawyer—a quibble as to whether that election was given during a pregnancy, because the onset of pregnancy is medically not easy to determine. There could be an evidential argument about whether someone had fallen pregnant on the Monday or the Wednesday, while the election had been made in the meantime. However, I do not think that any sensible registrar would make difficulties about that, and I hope that no other person would. The hon. Gentleman

may like to reflect on whether there is a potential difficulty in that area. That is my only reservation about the Bill, and I hope that it will proceed smoothly.

May I take this opportunity, Mr. Conway, not only to welcome you to the Chair, but to applaud the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, who is promoting the Bill, for his tenacity thus far. I also pay tribute to the hon. Member for Northampton, South, who showed similar tenacity at the end of the previous Parliament and was defeated only by time.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green for clarifying the amendments in his note to the Committee, because this sort of legislation is difficult to interpret when one has not been steeped in it. I have no objection to the inclusion of the amendments, although, as I mentioned to the hon. Gentleman, there may need to be some further discussion about issues to do with clause 3.

I also welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Conway. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hall Green for his clear explanation of the reasons for the amendments and the effect that they would have. I agree that this is a minor but necessary change. It is right to introduce extra flexibility in the circumstances that he has in mind. However, I hope, as I am sure do other members of the Committee, that such tragic circumstances would occur extremely rarely. I believe that the Bill will be improved as a result of the amendments. They strike the right balance between the rights and interests of the different parties in such circumstances. I am therefore delighted to be able to support them.

I take note of the point made by the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell). I cannot give him an instant answer but I will look into the matter.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 2, in

clause 1, page 2, line 31, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 3, in

clause 1, page 3, line 5, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 4, in

clause 1, page 3, line 33, leave out

'within the period of 42 days beginning with'

and insert

'not later than the end of the period of 42 days from'.

No. 5, in

clause 1, page 3, line 46 , leave out from 'above' to second 'be' in line 47 and insert

'as to the making of an election (which requires an election to be made either on or before the day on which the child was born or

within the period of 42 or, as the case may be, 21 days from that day) shall nevertheless'.

No. 6, in

clause 1, page 3, line 48, leave out 'outside' and insert 'after the end of'.

No. 7, in

clause 1, page 4, line 2, leave out 'outside the required period' and insert

'after the end of the period mentioned in subsection (5F) above'.—[Mr. McCabe.]

Question proposed, That the clause, as amended, stand part of the Bill.

I am grateful to you, Mr. Conway, for calling me to speak in the clause stand part debate. It gives me the opportunity to say how much I welcome the amendments that have been made to the Bill since the previous Bill was introduced in the previous Parliament, particularly the important provision in new subsection (5A)(d) and equivalent lines in new subsections (5B), (5C) and (5D), whereby the man must have consented in writing to the use of his sperm after his death and agreed to fertility treatment.

I do not want to be misquoted on this but that was one area on which the McLean report was clear. It upheld the view that it is not unreasonable of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to require expressed consent in writing for the removal of sperm of someone who is incapacitated. Therefore, the Bill should act prospectively only when that consent has been granted. We had lengthy debates on that question during discussion of the previous Bill, and I am not sure whether I won everyone over to that view because of the need to press on with the legislation before the guillotine.

I am pleased that that concession has been made. Since the case was first raised, the importance of consent has, if anything, taken on greater significance in the light of events in Bristol and elsewhere in the health service. There has been a misunderstanding of the Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Diane Blood. The Court of Appeal did not hold that the removal of sperm from Mr. Blood was lawful, because there was no written consent. The case related specifically to European law. It is vital that the requirement is maintained prospectively and that questions are raised about the application of the Bill retrospectively, particularly considering the question of taking sperm lawfully.

Clause 1 is important because prospective fathers and, in the case of donated eggs, mothers have the right of control not only for fertility but for paternity or maternity. They do not lose those rights when they become incapacitated and should not lose them in a post-mortem setting. The Bill is welcome, and I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green—and the Minister and her Department, because I suspect that they have a hand in these things—for including the provision in the Bill.

Question accordingly agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.