Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 143: 143: Clause 59, page 37, line 28, at end insert— ““““modify”” has the same meaning as in Part 1”” The noble Lord said: I shall also speak to Amendments No. 146 and 148 to 152. Amendments Nos. 148 and 149 give effect to the recommendations of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. Amendments Nos. 143 and 150 to 152 are minor technical amendments that do not substantively change the effect of the clauses but are nevertheless desirable to provide legal certainty and consistency of drafting. I am grateful to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee for its consideration of the delegated powers contained in the Bill and for its report of 30 November last year. As I said on Second Reading, the committee made recommendations in respect of two powers of the Secretary of State to make secondary legislation under the Bill. The first was the power in paragraph 3(d) of Clause 23 for the Secretary of State by order to specify additional persons who may be required to provide information to the National Consumer Council and to determine how failure to provide the information should be sanctioned. The second was the power in Clause 58 for the Secretary of State to make regulations in respect of contracts concluded away from business premises in so far as such regulations might amend an Act of Parliament. In each case, the committee considered that the order or regulations made in exercise of the relevant power should be subject to the affirmative rather than the negative procedure. In the case of Clause 23(3)(d), this was because of the scope of the power. In the case of Clause 58, it was because the power could be exercised to amend an Act of Parliament. Having carefully considered the report, I agreed with what the committee proposed in each case. Amendments Nos. 148 and 149 provide that orders under Clause 23(3)(d) and regulations under Clause 58 that amend Acts of Parliament should be subject to the affirmative procedure and not, as now, the negative procedure. Amendments Nos. 143, 146, 150, 151 and 152 make some minor drafting improvements to Clauses 59, 61 and 62. Part 1 of the Bill has a definition of the word ““modify”” in Clause 40(1) as including, "““amend, add to, revoke or repeal””," with references to ““modification”” being read accordingly. The term ““modify”” and related expressions are also used in Part 4 of the Bill. Amendments Nos. 143, 150, 151 and 152 confirm that the definition in Part 1 of the Bill also applies to certain uses of the word ““modifying”” in Part 4. Amendment No. 146 corrects the drafting of Clause 61, which provides which parliamentary procedure applies to orders and regulations made under the Bill. Subsection (2)(a) refers to, "““an order to which subsection (3) applies””." However, subsection (3) relates to regulations as well as orders, so the amendment adds the words ““or regulations”” to subsection (2)(a). I beg to move. On Question, amendment agreed to. [Amendments Nos. 144 and 145 not moved.] Clause 59, as amended, agreed to. Clause 60 agreed to. Clause 61 [Parliamentary control of orders and regulations]: