Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I am the mechanism by which my noble friend gets his breath back. During Committee in the other place, Ministers gave assurances that they would study with great care the memo from the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee—always a wise thing to do in government—in relation to use of the affirmative procedures in a number of areas, specifically on the clauses covering the powers to abolish income support, the changes to the Social Fund, the disclosure of information and joint birth registrations. As stated in Committee on 11 June, we have accepted all those recommendations, and this group of amendments will make the necessary changes to the Bill. Amendments 32 and 33 deal with the delegated powers in Clause 7. As noble Lords know, this clause provides a mechanism to abolish income support once there are no longer any groups of people who require it, and enables the Government to simplify and streamline the benefit system. It outlines the conditions required before income support can be abolished, and it is only once these conditions exist that an order can be made that will effectively switch it off. In its report, the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee stated that it was, ""not persuaded that the negative procedure affords an adequate level of parliamentary control"." As a result, the first of these amendments honours the assurances we gave by making it clear that any order made under subsection (2) should be subject to affirmative procedures. Amendment 33 relates to the order-making power in Clause 7(4). The amendment provides that any orders made under this subsection remain subject to the negative resolution procedure, except where such provision is contained within the same order as provision made under Clause 7(2). In the latter case, the order would be made subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. I turn now to the provisions relating to the Social Fund. Amendment 55 relates to external provider social loans and community care grants. The effect of this amendment will be to introduce some parliamentary control over the provisions on the availability of Social Fund loans in areas where there are external provider social loans. As originally drafted, the Bill would have allowed the Government to set out the provisions on the withdrawal of Social Fund provision in directions, which are not formally laid before Parliament. This amendment ensures that, if and when these restrictions are brought in, the details will be set out in regulations subject to the negative resolution procedure. Amendment 56 addresses regulations about unauthorised use or disclosure of information and the associated creation of offences and penalties. The effect of the amendment is to make the regulations covering the detail of the offences and penalties subject to the affirmative procedure and therefore to discussion in the House and to parliamentary approval. Finally, Amendments 84, 90, 91 and 92 cover the joint birth registration provisions. New Section 2B(1) provides that the information to be given by a mother about her child’s father will be prescribed in regulations. This information is essentially contact information enabling the registrar to contact the man concerned in those exceptional cases where a child’s parents are not co-operating with each other. As currently drafted, the power to prescribe this information lies with the Registrar-General rather than the Minister and is not therefore subject to parliamentary scrutiny. However, the Delegated Powers Committee’s report made clear its view that this power is substantive in nature and similar to the powers conferred by subsections (4) and (6) of new Section 2B, which are to be exercised by negative resolution procedure. The provisions under which the Minister has the power to make regulations are included in the list of relevant provisions set out in new Section 39A of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, as inserted by this Bill. The amendments include in that list of relevant provisions the regulation-making power conferred by new Section 2B(1). They address the concerns of the committee by seeking to ensure that the information given by a mother about her child’s father is prescribed by the Minister and therefore subject to the negative procedure. I beg to move. Amendment 32 agreed.