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Proceeding contribution from Lord Norton of Louth (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Thursday, 26 October 2006. It occurred during Debate on bill on Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.


Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, as my amendment to the government amendment is before the House, I shall respond briefly to the Minister. I shall also respond to points made by other noble Lords. By putting a particular provision into the Bill, the Government are putting it into law. We should be extremely wary about allowing a measure to be introduced that has an implicit elephant definition—in other words, we know it when we see it—which is to be determined by consulting people who are approached when order-making powers are being prepared. That is not the way in which to proceed. It causes too many problems. The Minister says that he thinks he is on safe territory. My point is that the territory is not defined. This needs to be pursued. Having said that, I listened with great care to what the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, and my noble friend Lady Carnegy of Lour said, and I see that certain points in my amendment need to be addressed. Therefore, I shall not pursue it now, but there is a case for returning to it to ensure that what the Government are putting into the Bill, which I welcome, is taken further so we know what it actually means. For the moment, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment No. 15, as an amendment to Amendment No. 14, by leave, withdrawn. On Question, Amendment No. 14 agreed to. [Amendment No. 16 not moved.]


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
685 c1312 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Devolved matters Accountability Crime Bureaucracy Civil service Delegated legislation British constitution EU law Government departments Legislation European communities Local government Ministerial powers Northern Ireland Parliamentary scrutiny Scotland Social security benefits Small businesses Regulation Reform Wales European economic area Legislative reform orders
Legislation
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill 2005-06
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk