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Flood and Water Management Bill

My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment 5, which is also a government amendment. I shall then restrain myself from commenting on the amendments tabled by the noble Lords opposite before they have the chance to deploy their case. I shall address myself to those points when we reach the concluding remarks. Amendments 3 and 5 are in response to Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee report. I emphasise again how grateful we are to that committee for the enormous work it does and the guidance it offers us when we are considering Bills at this stage. The committee recommended that the order-making powers in Clause 4(2)(f) and Clause 5(2)(c), which enable the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers to add new risk management functions, should be confined to adding statutory functions only. As currently drafted, the power could, for instance, allow the addition of administrative functions. This would mean that Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales would have the opportunity to consider the appropriateness of a function in the course of the parliamentary procedure relating to the legislation creating those functions. This recommendation accords with the way that we intend to exercise this power, which is why we are entirely happy to accept it. The amendments we propose confine the power to add new risk management functions to statutory functions of risk management authorities. I shall listen to the arguments noble Lords make in advocating their amendments. I beg to move.