My Lords, I support the Bill. However, I have a number of questions that I hope the Minister will be able to answer, as we have an opportunity to debate issues about payments to unpaid Ministers. Let me say at the beginning that it is understandable that, due to the complexities of the social world …
My Lords, Governments since 2008 have been committed to undertaking post-legislative scrutiny of Acts three to five years after enactment. In Committee on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Malvern, reminded the Committee that she was a member …
My Lords, as I mentioned earlier, good law is a public good. It is essential that Acts deliver what they are expected to deliver, and not all do so, as the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, was touching upon. They may be misinterpreted or misunderstood, simply have no effect or have unintended consequences.…
My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow that speech, which was a useful and authoritative view on this topic. I will attempt to sum up some of the issues, but I will first make a couple of observations.
First, since the change in the machinery of government in the last Parliament, the focus of th…
My Lords, the Government Whip may be pleased to know that my mother used to say that I spoke far too quickly. This amendment complements other amendments, which have been discussed, seeking reviews of one form or another. It is distinct in its scope and its timeframe. It would provide for post-legis…
My Lords, the Minister’s response is not just disappointing but extraordinarily worrying. It suggests that the Government do not know what they are committed to. All I am seeking is to put in the Bill what the Government say they intend to do anyway. By the sound of it, the Minister is reflecting a …
My Lords, this is a big Bill. The noble Baroness, Lady Smith, has spent many hours at the Dispatch Box justifying its provisions. This amendment enables her to demonstrate her confidence that it will deliver what she claims for it. The amendment requires the Secretary of State within five years of t…
My Lords, the Minister’s response is disappointing. I am grateful to the two Front Benches for their very kind opening comments but in terms of the substance of the amendment, I thought the Minister’s comments reinforced the case for post-legislative scrutiny; she spent some time explaining why the …
My Lords, I have no interests to declare, other than that I want legislation to be as good as it can be. I very much welcome my noble friend’s amendment because it provides the foundation for my Amendment 251 that would provide for post-legislative scrutiny, which we will come to much later. Too oft…
My Lords, on my count, almost 20 amendments have been tabled to the Bill requiring the Secretary of State within six or 12 months of the Act being passed to promulgate some regulations or undertake a review of a particular provision of the Act. My amendment is more comprehensive and adopts a longer …
My Lords, given that, as the Minister said, she is just bringing to a conclusion her 12 days in Committee on the Bill, I was rather hoping that she may be a little demob happy and put aside her brief and accept the amendment.
I naturally welcome the commitment that the Bill will be reviewed within …
My Lord, the UK is a constitutional democracy without a written constitution. It is a very odd constitution. The integrity of our system of government therefore depends on the willingness of those in power to accept the constraints of constitutional conventions: to behave like gentlemen. This report…
My Lords, this amendment provides the means to check that the Bill, once enacted, achieves the purposes for which it is intended. It is a more comprehensive amendment than several that have been debated already, which provide for a review of certain provisions within 12 months of the Act coming into…
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Hunt of Wirral and the Minister for their contributions to this short debate. Obviously, I am very grateful for their opening comments; it seems to be something on which I have united the two Front Benches.
I am very grateful for the Minister’s consid…