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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, and other Members of the Committee who have put their names to amendments to delete Clause 3. It should not stand part of the Bill. I have listened with great care to all who have expressed a view on Clause 3. In particular, I have read the report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and the Constitution Committee. I am very grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Dahrendorf and Lord Holme, for spending time talking to me with their customary energy and clarity. They left me in no doubt about the failings of the clause as it stands. I have no hesitation, therefore, in supporting its removal. As ever, I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Kingsland and Lord Goodhart, because it is clear that there is support, as the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, indicated, for a process to get Law Commission reports through Parliament and on to the statute book. The noble Lords, Lord Kingsland and Lord Goodhart, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, have been generous with their time and I hope to exploit them further in talking through ideas that could lead to a process that commands the full support of your Lordships' House and another place. I will say a little about why this is important. The Committee will agree that the Law Commission has provided a remarkable service over the years since 1965. It has produced 177 law reform reports. Its remit, as the Committee will be well aware, is to modernise and simplify the law. Some 123 reports have been implemented in whole or part since 1976 and 14 currently await implementation. Some reports have led to substantial legislation—The Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Children Act 1989 and the Land Registration Act 2002. Regulatory reform orders dealt with two reports relating to business tenancies and execution of deeds and documents. Other smaller reforms such as the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 brought relief to particular sectors; in that case, the small business sector. The range of the Law Commission's work spans criminal law, administrative law, commercial law, common law, company law, contractual law, family law, housing and tort law, land law, the law of wills and successions, private international law, and I could go on. However, as the Committee will recognise, in a world of competing priorities, it can be difficult for legislative time to be found for these reports. It is a problem for this Government, and it was a problem for the last Conservative Government and Governments outside the UK who have their own law commissions. It is right to try to find a solution that would enable uncontroversial reports to find their way through a parliamentary process. The elements of such a process that I plan to explore would be: ensuring that the reports were genuinely uncontroversial; that they commanded support in principle, therefore, from across your Lordships' House and another place; that the choice for such a procedure would be endorsed by Parliament; that a suitable process of scrutiny could be found; and that both Houses of Parliament would have the opportunity to debate them with the possibility of amendment—to deal specifically with the point made by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. I am grateful to noble Lords on both opposition Benches and the Cross Benches who have offered to continue this dialogue with me. I am also grateful to the honourable Mr Justice Toulson, the chairman of the Law Commission, for the time that he has spent with me. If we are successful in finding a proposal that commands government support and support throughout your Lordships' House and another place I shall endeavour to return on Report with it. On that basis, I hope that the Committee will find favour with the proposal to delete Clause 3.