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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, I thought I had made it clear that that was not the intention of the Bill. Perhaps if the noble Earl follows the debate and the rest of my comments, that will be clear. I also suggest that he reads Hansard very carefully to follow the line of our argument. Perhaps I may continue on the subject of the Law Commission. We have noted the serious reservations entered by the noble Lord, Lord Dahrendorf, and his committee about Clause 3. We have also noted the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Holme, and his committee. This is, no doubt, an area that will occupy a considerable part of our debates and it is right that it should. Our aim is to find practical ways to bring the benefits of Law Commission recommendations to citizens and businesses, whether by the proposed order-making procedure or otherwise. We will of course work with parties opposite to try to achieve that end. I suspect that we will spend a good deal of time on Clause 3. I know that some noble Lords find it objectionable in principle, but I urge them to be pragmatic and to work with us to achieve a result that will deliver the real benefits of appropriate Law Commission recommendations to the widest possible group of people and businesses in the shortest practicable time. We will, as we have done throughout the course of the Bill in another place, listen carefully to the views expressed by noble Lords on this and other issues. Finally, on Part 1, I would like to make it clear that the Government are also mindful of the longstanding constitutional convention in relation to the Church of England, whereby Parliament does not legislate on matters internal to the Church without its consent. We will, of course, uphold that convention and we will make that explicit in the Bill where necessary. Part 2 of the Bill enshrines in statute five principles to which a person must have regard when exercising those regulatory functions that are specified by order. The principles are the Better Regulation Commission’s five principles of good regulation, and provide that regulatory activities must be carried out in a way that is transparent, accountable, proportionate, and consistent, and that they should be targeted only at cases in which action is required. Those principles are widely regarded as the gold standard for judging regulation not only by government departments, regulators and organisations in the UK, but also in several other countries, including Ireland and Germany. Given the variety of functions that regulators have and the variety of contexts in which they operate, inconsistency of approach is a real risk and can cause difficulties for those regulated. We would therefore like to set a baseline standard for regulatory work and these principles support the Government’s aim of bringing about risk-based, proportionate and targeted regulation. This part of the Bill also enables a Minister to issue and revise a code of practice which sets out the best practice for regulators. The duty to have regard to a code of practice when a regulator develops his policies will ensure that the good practice in the code effectively filters through to the regulator’s activities, whether planning inspections, preparing a strategy on advice, or allocating resources between different regulatory functions. I am confident that, through the principles of good regulation and a code of best practice for regulators, we will deliver on our commitment to promote effective, risk-based enforcement which will make a real difference on the ground to those who are regulated, without compromising the UK’s excellent regulatory outcomes that make this country such an attractive place for international business. The provisions in Part 3 will make it much more straightforward for Ministers and departments to transpose EC regulations and to keep domestic legislation implementing Community law up to date, as well as making it easier for organisations and individuals to understand and work with these changes. Part 3 concerns only the transposition of EC regulation into UK law. The provisions make no changes to the policy made by the European institutions in Brussels and will not lead to an increase in regulation. I want to leave noble Lords in no doubt that we need this Bill. Business needs the Bill; our dedicated public servants need the Bill; and our hard working voluntary and charity workers and citizens need the Bill. Miles Templeman, director-general of the Institute of Directors, John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, and representatives from the British Chambers of Commerce and the Forum of Private Business have, on several occasions, told me, in person, and other Ministers, that they want this Bill to deliver. The Bill is an important mechanism in maintaining our country’s competitiveness, in safeguarding our economic prosperity, in reducing burdens on public services and in improving the lives of all citizens. I commend the Bill to the House. Moved, That the Bill be now read a second time.—(Lord Bassam of Brighton.)