Climate Change Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 221: 221: Schedule 5, page 66, line 46, at end insert— ““Orders and regulations (1) An order under paragraph 2(3), 7(2) or 16(2) is subject to affirmative resolution procedure. (2) Section 161(3) (negative resolution procedure: orders) applies in relation to an order under paragraph 6(1), subject as follows. (3) An order under that paragraph is subject to affirmative resolution procedure if— (a) it is the first order to be made under that paragraph, or (b) it increases the limit for the time being set by an order under that paragraph by more than is necessary to reflect changes in the value of money since that limit was set. (4) Section 161(2) (negative resolution procedure: regulations) applies in relation to regulations under paragraph 12, subject as follows. (5) Regulations under that paragraph are subject to affirmative resolution procedure if they modify an enactment contained in an Act of Parliament. (6) Where an order or regulations are subject to ““affirmative resolution procedure”” the Secretary of State must not make the order or regulations unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing them has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.””.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak also to government Amendments Nos. 223 and 226. These amendments are in direct response to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. We are seeking to ensure full and proper parliamentary scrutiny of any statutory instruments that the Secretary of State may make in relation to waste reduction schemes. It is important that we get this right. Parliament has a key role to play throughout the piloting and subsequent consideration of waste reduction schemes. We are grateful to the committee for its advice on how to establish the right relationship here. Under Amendment No. 221, any order that set a cap on the amount that any household can be charged in a single year would become subject to the affirmative resolution procedure in two circumstances—the first time a cap is set, and if ever the level of the cap is increased by more than inflation. In all other cases, the setting of a cap would be subject to the negative resolution procedure. I reassure the House that we are taking the power to cap charges only as a final reserve measure. We trust local authorities to work with their residents to come up with a reasonable level of charge. We do not actually anticipate needing to use the power. Amendment No. 221 would also strengthen the procedure where the Secretary of State made regulations amending an Act of Parliament. In this instance, the regulations would need to be approved by affirmative resolution. In all other cases, a negative resolution would apply. This is a sensible strengthening of Parliament’s role. Amendment No. 221 also makes technical improvements to the way in which the provisions are drafted. It moves the explanation of which parliamentary procedures apply to which statutory instruments into the new Schedule 2AA to the Environmental Protection Act. For clarity, we have added an explanation of what the affirmative resolution procedure involves. Amendment No. 223 is consequential to the substantive changes made by Amendment No. 221. It amends the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to reflect which parliamentary procedures would now apply to which statutory instruments in Schedule 2AA, as per paragraph 17 of that schedule. Taking on board the last of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee’s recommendations on waste provisions, government Amendment No. 226 also seeks to give Parliament a stronger role in scrutinising subordinate legislation. This time we are talking about subordinate legislation that the Secretary of State might make in the hypothetical situation where waste provisions were changed prior to rollout. We agree with the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee that any such subordinate legislation should be subject to some kind of parliamentary procedure. Again, this ensures that Parliament has a full role in taking forward this policy. We envisage that we might need to make subordinate legislation to deal with technical matters regarding schemes; for example, what a scheme’s accounts should detail. I hope that the House will be reassured by this strengthening of parliamentary scrutiny of the waste provisions in the Bill and will recognise that the Government have followed the recommendations of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. I beg to move.