Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:45 pm on 27 November 2007.
David Burrowes
Shadow Minister (Justice)
9:45,
27 November 2007
I should like to refer to the point made in response to the Amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead. Clause 120(6) is a Henry VIII provision, allowing primary legislation to be amended by statutory instrument. Will the Minister briefly respond to the concerns in this regard? Obviously, as a matter of principle, use of this type of provision should exceptional, rather than the norm. Would it not have been more appropriate to consider in more depth whether there was a need to have flexibility implicit in the Bill, rather than seeking to use an order-making power to build in the flexibility that the Minister mentioned with regard to alleviating his concerns?
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.
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.
