Duty to secure observance of Code of Practice

‘Where any local authority has been granted powers under Part 3 of this Act, the LBRO shall have the duty or reviewing and, if appropriate, certifying every three years whether local authorities are compliant with the provisions of any Code issued under Section 22 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.’.—[Mr. Prisk.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Motion made, and Question put, That the clause be read a Second time:—

The Committee divided: Ayes 4, Noes 9.

Question accordingly negatived.

On a point of order, Mr. Chope. I seek your guidance before we proceed. I was somewhat surprised to see new clauses 4 and 5 on today’s selection list. They were not originally chosen, but were both intended to be included with my amendments Nos. 58, 59 and 60, which would have replaced clauses 28, 29 and 30. I am ready, willing and able to go ahead with this discussion,  but in view of the fact that we have already discussed clauses 28, 29 and 30, I ask your guidance. Do you consider this to be an appropriate time to discuss the new clauses, or do you feel that we should leave it to a subsequent stage of the Bill?

I am in the hon. Lady’s hands. The new clauses are hers, so she can decide not to move them if she wants. The reason why they were not on the selection list for debate on the last occasion was that they were effectively starred. They were ruled out because sufficient notice of them had not been given before the Committee met. Now they are in order and in time. If she wants to discuss them, we can propose them and deal with them accordingly after she moves them. If she does not want to move them, that is her decision. I hope that that is helpful.

I am grateful for your guidance, Mr. Chope. I would therefore like to introduce the new clauses and explain why I wanted them included.

Order. The hon. Lady must realise that new clauses are separate items. One cannot discuss them together. They are not grouped for debate, so they must be discussed seriatim.

I apologise if I was misleading in describing them.