Part of Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:00 am on 21 June 2005.
Jim Knight
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity)
11:00,
21 June 2005
My hon. Friend seeks to tempt me, but I will resist his temptation. I could go away and mull over his suggestion to see whether that is something we would want to do at a later stage, but I am pretty sure that we would decide to resist it. We have reflected on this matter. As I said at the outset, the issue was raised by Haskins and by the Select Committee, so we have had a good look at the intricacies and complications of reinventing the institutional infrastructure. We have concluded that, for now, we are best off with things as they are, but I will certainly reflect on the interesting notion that my hon. Friend has offered.
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.
