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Planning Bill

My Lords, the Government have been constructive, through the Minister, in response to many amendments proposed by other Members. However, the response to the issue of the involvement of your Lordships' House in the making of the regulations that will be needed under the Bill has been negative, to say the least. I must make it clear that I do not speak today on behalf of the Delegated Powers Committee, because it has not had an opportunity as a committee to consider the amendment. However, one necessary function of the committee is to see that the rights of your Lordships’ House are not overlooked or diminished by legislation that the Government propose to introduce. That, I am afraid, is what is happening now. We should surely start from the presumption that the roles of your Lordships’ House and of the House of Commons in respect of delegated legislation are equal, subject to the exception of supply Bills and other financial Bills and to the exercise of financial privilege of the House of Commons. I therefore greatly regret the vote last week that resulted in your Lordships’ House rejecting its own right to claim involvement in the making of statutory instruments. That weakened your Lordships’ House. It would have been a good thing if new regulations had required resolutions of both Houses—certainly in many cases. That is especially so because the secondary legislation gets far less attention in the House of Commons than it does here. The House of Commons has nothing equivalent to the Delegated Powers Committee or the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee. Debates in the House of Commons on statutory instruments are notoriously brief. We are a revising House. The exercise of our revising powers in recent weeks has shown the importance of these powers, both in this Bill and in others that have been before your Lordships’ House in the last few days. It is obvious, however, that a great deal of work on the Planning Bill remains to be done. Although the Delegated Powers Committee has accepted that Part 11 is no longer to be regarded as a skeleton, an enormous amount is still left to be exercised by secondary legislation. No fewer than 18 of the 21 clauses in Part 11 contain powers relating to the making of regulations. This amendment would merely enable your Lordships’ House to express its views on the draft regulations and to require the Secretary of State to respond to those views. The House of Commons would thereby have the benefit of the views of your Lordships’ House but the House of Commons would not be bound by them in any way. This plainly would not trespass on the privilege of the House of Commons. I do not see this as a party-political matter. The question is whether your Lordships’ House, having played a large part in the development of Part 11, should be excluded from any further involvement in development through regulations. We have already been excluded from the right to vote on resolutions needed to implement Part 11. If we in your Lordships’ House are also to be denied the lesser right to have our views expressed and considered before the House of Commons approves these regulations, that will set a dangerous precedent, which may well weaken our powers of revision. That is why I support this amendment.