Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I will come back to that at the end of my remarks. New clause 20 would also permit the creation of a new body to carry out the functions of existing regulators if the Minister considered that that would be for the purpose of securing that regulatory functions were exercised so as to comply with the five principles. Finally, if as a consequence of the creation of a new body or the transferral of a function, another regulatory body becomes obsolete, it may be necessary to abolish it. That, too, would be possible under the order-making power of new clause 20, if the Minister considers that it will ensure that regulatory functions are exercised so as to comply with the five principles of good regulation. It is important that I make it clear at this point that, under new clause 20, an order may propose changes to a body carrying out regulatory functions only if those functions continue to be exercised. Any modification by order of the functions themselves would have to be dealt with under new clause 19, or by way of primary legislation. I assure hon. Members that it is not in any way our intention to erode the independence from Government of those regulators set up by statute. Our aim with this new clause is to have an order-making power that can be used to ensure that all regulators conduct their business in a way that is consistent with the five better regulation principles. An order made under new clause 20 will of course be subject to the same checks and balances as any other. Such an order must meet the preconditions in clause 3, and a Minister must consult widely on any proposed order. A full explanatory document will be submitted to relevant parliamentary Committees. The Government have also given an undertaking that they will not do anything highly controversial using an order and that an order will not be forced through despite opposition from the relevant parliamentary Committees. As we will discuss tomorrow, the Government have placed on a statutory footing a veto for relevant Committees of either House. That will provide further assurance for those concerned that an order will proceed only if the informed view of the House and another place is satisfied that its outcome is desirable. Let me turn to the question asked by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath). Clause 23 excludes certain economic regulators from being specified by order for the purposes of clauses 20 and 21, which relate to the principles and the code. Those regulators are not excluded from new clause 20. I hope that that clarifies the situation, and I ask hon. Members to accept the new clause.