My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution to this debate as a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. As noble Lords have already heard, the committee has had considerable reservations about the way in which these regulations have been processed. During my public service career I have generally taken the view that when things go wrong it is the result of incompetence rather than malign conspiracy, but I have to say that the way in which this has been handled may cause me to revisit my position.
Let us revisit the facts from a slightly different perspective from the one we have already heard. The original consultation took place in September and October and allowed just six weeks for responses. The Government’s own new consultation principles, which were published in July 2012 and have not been without controversy, provide:
“For a new and contentious policy”—
such as a new policy on nuclear energy—
“12 weeks or more may still be appropriate”.
As the chairman of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee pointed out, streamlining procedures in relation to fracking might very well be seen as a new and contentious policy. Given that the Government allowed only six weeks for this consultation, it is hard to imagine what policy considerations might lead them to allow 12 weeks or longer for other consultations.
Let us carry on with the story. The regulations were laid on 20 December last year; that is, during the parliamentary Recess and a day or two before most of us were involved in other festivities. They were brought into force on 13 January this year, just one week after the end of the Recess. As the chairman of the committee, the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, pointed out in a letter to the Minister, Mr Nick Boles, clearly this gave,
“scant opportunity for Parliament to scrutinise the instrument before it took effect”,
which, given that this is a controversial issue, was especially “regrettable”. The fact that it applies to only a small number of planning applications each year does not change the fact that this is a controversial issue.
To make things worse, as the Minister herself has said, the department failed to publish a detailed analysis of the consultation responses or any impact assessment when the instruments were ultimately laid. Therefore, such scrutiny as Parliament was able to provide was not informed by this important material. The committee pressed for this but it was not provided until 24 January, a full month after the instruments were laid. It showed that only seven of the responses were in favour of the Government’s proposed changes and 155 were against. I am not making points about the content of the regulations—others may want to—but it is right that Parliament should know the outcome of the consultation when the instruments were laid.
When these concerns were put to the Minister, Mr Boles, by the chairman of the committee, the response was close to dismissive. The department does, it seems, support and adhere to the revised Cabinet Office guidelines but, on the advice of its own deregulation unit, felt that the six weeks allowed in this case was proportionate. As for laying the instruments just before Christmas and without the necessary supporting material, we were to be reassured that there was no intent to impact on Parliament’s consideration of them.
I think that the way in which this has been managed is regrettable. It has shown scant respect for Parliament and scant respect for effective consultation, which is an important cornerstone of our democratic system. I hope that the Minister, in addition to the assurances that she has already given us, will be able to offer some greater reassurance than did Mr Boles that this sort of thing will not be allowed to happen again. There may not be many people here to hear this debate today, but these issues go to the heart of our constitutional process.
3.45 pm