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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

I listened carefully to the Minister and will read what he said when it appears in Hansard. I am sorry that the Government believe that providing Parliament with a list of reasons why requests have been rejected would be too much of a burden and take too much time. The reason why we are having yet another crack at lifting or easing the regulatory burden on businesses is that nothing moves quickly enough and nothing is done fast enough. That is to a large extent because nothing is transparent. Our intention is to focus the minds of Ministers and their officials on justifying why the regulations that seem to place a disproportionate burden on business and individuals remain in force. If we are unable to see why a request is rejected, how can we pull Ministers and their officials down to a point where they will get on with this job? Given the amount of money that we spend on making lists of this, that and everything else, spending a little bit more on reporting to Parliament is not asking for much. I shall of course ask leave of the Committee to withdraw the amendment, but I am disappointed by the Minister’s response and will return to the matter at a later date. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 not moved.]