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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, I am pleased to hear the noble Baroness at the Dispatch Box. We have not heard enough of her. It saddens me greatly that we have now reached the last amendment and are hearing from her only for the second time. The noble Baroness of course makes a valid argument. I understand the concern that the time available for parliamentary committees to consider revising orders perhaps is not as she would wish. Obviously, we want to ensure that we have in place a good working system for scrutinising orders when new orders are put to committees under the Bill. We agree that engaging parliamentary committees on revisions to standing orders is essential to that process. But I come back to the point that the amendment seeks only to delay the Bill, which is unnecessary, because that work can continue. We have said here and in another place that we want to work with committees to ensure that amendments to standing orders are in place, and we have delivered on that commitment. Throughout the passage of the Bill through Parliament, we have provided relevant committees of both Houses with opportunities to consider and share their views on those amendments. Working drafts of the new orders informed by continuing discussions have been shared with the committee chairs, and official drafts will be issued in time for Third Reading. The progress on this dialogue to date indicates that a formal extension of the Bill is not necessary. I give a commitment that we will continue to work with committees to ensure that they are aware of the timetable for laying orders and have sufficient warning of any approaching work. We think there will be an opportunity for continued discussion after Royal Assent and before orders are laid under the terms of this Bill. I am grateful to the noble Baroness for the amendment, but we do not think it is necessary. I therefore invite her to withdraw it.