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Equality Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 106:"Page 23, line 44, at end insert—" ““(a)   section 16(3),”” The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, these amendments respond to a recommendation of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. I indicated our intention to do this at Second Reading. Parliament is involved in the procedure for bringing into force the commission’s codes of practice. This involves laying the draft before Parliament and allowing for a resolution of either House within 40 days that it should not proceed. This follows the existing provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. However, there is no standard procedure for revoking a code of practice. As the Bill currently stands, the Secretary of State would revoke a code by order at the request of the commission without any parliamentary procedure. The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee recommended that the same considerations for making a code should apply to revoking a code; that is to say, Parliament should be involved. I am happy to accept that recommendation. Consequently, we have brought forward this amendment and Amendment No. 109. The effect of these amendments is to require that revocation of codes made by the new commission, or those in existence and made by the existing equality commissions, will be subject to a negative resolution parliamentary procedure. I beg to move. On Question, amendment agreed to. Clause 43 [Transitional: the Commission]: