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Health Bill

My Lords, we have extensively discussed the issue of the definition of ““enclosed spaces”” before, both in Committee and on Report. I do not intend to go over those issues again. The noble Lords, Lord Monson and Lord Stoddart, have regularly invoked poor old Henry VIII, who I often think is a slightly misunderstood man. They say this is a Henry VIII clause. As I understand it, such clauses allow you to amend primary legislation through secondary legislation. These provisions do not do that, and I am not aware of any Henry VIII powers in Part 1 of Chapter 1 of the Bill. The Government have accepted that a significant number of regulation-making powers should be subject to the affirmative resolution, and they are set out in Clause 79 of the Bill. The noble Lord, Lord Monson, tried to tempt me at an earlier stage into giving him advance notice of what the Government’s reaction to this amendment was likely to be, and I succumbed. I will not disappoint him. I have already indicated our lack of sympathy for this amendment. I reassure noble Lords that the Government will undertake a full consultation on the draft regulations to be made under this Bill. The definitions in the regulations covered by this amendment will be part of that consultation. I have made it clear that we intend to follow the definitions in this area in Scotland’s smoke-free legislation. I assert again that definitions of ““enclosed”” and ““substantially enclosed”” will be technical in nature, and it is usual for such technical regulations to be subject to the negative resolution procedure. That is not just my view; I remind the House again that the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee were content with that approach. I also have some sympathy with the noble Earl, Lord Howe, that this is not likely to be the bellwether issue on freedom and liberty in this country.