Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 122:"After Clause 44, insert the following new clause—" ““CODES OF PRACTICE (1)   The Secretary of State may— (a)   issue a code of practice in connection with any of the provisions of section 44 or Schedule 2 to the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (c. 48) as applied by section 44(4), and (b)   revise or replace such a code. (2)   An inspector must have regard to any relevant provision of a code when discharging any function under any provision mentioned in subsection (1)(a). (3)   But an inspector’s failure to have regard to any provision of a code does not make him liable to criminal or civil proceedings. (4)   A code— (a)   is admissible in evidence in any proceedings, and (b)   must be taken into account by a court in any case in which it appears to the court to be relevant.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, as Amendment No. 122 and Amendment No. 130 are similar, I will speak to them together. During the recent debate in Committee I promised the noble Earl, Lord Peel, that I would consider suitable wording in relation to authorising inspectors having regard to relevant codes of practice when carrying out their duties. I am therefore pleased that Amendments Nos. 122 and 130 not only provide the mechanism by which the Secretary of State can issue codes of practice relevant to the duties of inspectors, but also place an obligation on inspectors to have regard to any provision of such codes when discharging their functions. My department intends to issue codes of practice to inspectors exercising their powers in relation to the possession of proscribed pesticides and to wildlife inspectors exercising their powers as set out in Schedule 5. The pesticides code will be extended to encompass inspections carried out under the Food and Environmental Protection Act 1985 by wildlife inspectors. At present such inspections are not subject to a code of practice. It is appropriate that inspectors must have regard to such codes. I believe that these amendments adopt a common-sense approach. I am grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Peel, for having raised the issues in Committee. I hope that the amendments find the approval of the House. I beg to move.