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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

I am grateful to the Minister. He refers to something that I was going to explore: the purpose of the new clause. He talks of giving the Secretary of State certain powers. Perhaps he can clarify that. Is it not the case that, under the terms of the new clause, public authorities, whether they are Northern Ireland Departments or district councils, will immediately be subject to the duty? It does not require a further order by the Secretary of State. The powers that he is taking relate to introducing an Order in Council to allow the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to designate other bodies. That is significant because, when the new clause passes into law and receives Royal Assent, Northern Ireland Departments and local authorities will be subject to its provisions from that time forward, without the need for any further action. That is a major innovation . To my knowledge, there has not been much discussion in the council of which I am a member in Belfast about the duty and obligation that will be imposed. I would be grateful if the Minister would say what discussions have taken place with local authorities in Northern Ireland on that issue. What will the cost implications be for local authorities? What assessment has been made of that? We are all aware that all this is important, but clearly there are costs involved and it is important that we understand that, too. Today we may pass legislation that is entirely laudable in its objectives, but people may come to us afterwards and say, ““We could have done with a lot more discussion about what it will mean in practice.”” I invite the Minister to address some of those issues.