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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, I supported the noble Viscount in Committee when he moved a similar amendment. I said at that time that, having served with him on the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee, I had always been immensely impressed by the amount of work that he put in to trace the roots of every instrument that came before that committee. It took a formidable amount of work and his kind of legal brain to be able to do that. I do not know what my noble friend is going to say about the amendment, but there is a general point to be made and somebody somewhere ought to look after this matter. When these regulations or orders are published they should contain a succinct summary of all the previous relevant orders and where people can find them. I hope that the Government will also make available an electronic dictionary so that, at the touch of a button, anyone can trace all the 25 or 27 previous items involved in such legislation. That should not be difficult to do. From what the noble Viscount has said, I am convinced that lots of small businessmen, farmers and ordinary people are harassed by such regulations, so we should do whatever we can. What could apply under Clause 1(3)(b), (c) and (d) supports the amendment. I hope that somewhere in the system there is a positive response to what the noble Viscount has suggested.