My Lords, I note that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, set out his intention to oppose Clause 4 standing part of the Bill. I hope that the arguments I have previously set out in favour of Clause 4 have gone some way to assuaging the noble Lord’s concerns.
First, I will directly answer the question just posed by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter. The fact is that there are regulators that would like to enter into regulator recognition agreements that do not have, or are not sure whether they have, the powers to do so.
My noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering referred to regulators that have contacted her welcoming this clause. If regulators want this power in this Bill, and all of us are agreed that it is helpful for them to have it, even if the numbers are small, why would we not want to give it to them? Why are noble Lords saying that it is okay for regulators that already have this power to enter into recognition agreements but, for some reason that I find inexplicable—with due respect—regulators that do not have this power or are not sure whether their power is appropriate should not be allowed to have it? That seems to go against the spirit of regulatory autonomy and recognising that regulators know what they are talking about, in this area.
Before I start, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, that of course I have taken the comments made by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee seriously. I read its memorandum very carefully, and think that the supplementary memorandum that I submitted afterwards met some of its concerns. I will continue to reflect on its two responses to me, as we attempt to move this Bill forward.
In answer to what my noble friend Lady McIntosh said about the coverage of the Bill, it looks weird when noble Lords start quoting individual examples of regulators that are covered or not. It is simply because the class of regulators that are covered by the Bill is that class of regulators that are governed by law. Off the cuff, I could not answer why the regulators of people who deal with pigs can and the regulators of those who deal with another animal may not. One would have to go back to the original legislation to do that, but this Bill does not make a value judgment on these regulators; it merely uses the legal definition of which regulators are covered by law to be its class of regulators for the purpose of the Bill.
I take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of regulator recognition agreements for enabling professionals who have qualified in one jurisdiction to work in another. They are important for trade: they help sought-after UK professionals to provide services into overseas markets and help overseas-qualified professionals to have their qualifications recognised in the UK, where a regulator determines that they meet our rigorous standards.
In some territories, or for some professions, there can be barriers to UK professionals practising overseas. Reciprocal agreements put in place by regulators can reduce these barriers. I come back to the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter: why would we not want regulators to do this, if that is what they want to do? For example, regulator recognition agreements can set out streamlined processes for two regulators to recognise each other’s professionals on the basis of similar standards. They can also include provisions that set out how applications for recognition will be treated; for example, through agreement on standard application or evidence requirements.
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As we heard from the noble Lord, Lord Trees, at Second Reading, with reference to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, some regulators already have these powers; they enter into recognition agreements
and seize these opportunities. The RCVS, for example, has made use of this ability to enter into, among other agreements, an MoU with the Veterinary Council of Ireland to facilitate recognition of each other’s accredited veterinary degrees. This demonstrates how recognition agreements are demand-led processes, and it is for regulators themselves to decide whether or not to enter into one. The Government are not nudging them in one direction or another; we are giving them an enabling power to enter into such agreements if they wish to.
As I have said, we should trust regulators to decide which recognition agreements are beneficial. This is a quite separate category of agreements from those that we addressed previously in Clause 3. I hope that noble Lords who have an antipathy to Clause 3 do not allow its proximity to spread that antipathy to Clause 4, as well, because they serve two quite different purposes.
Where regulators already have this power, no further action needs to be taken. Just to repeat myself, we know that, for some regulators, entering into regulator recognition agreements is a new process as the UK moves away from the EU-derived system for the recognition of professional qualifications. They did not have to think about that under the previous EU system; it was there. Now, they have to do this and take individual decisions. This has brought to the surface how some of them do not have the necessary powers.
To enable them to take full advantage of international opportunities, we need to provide them with this ability. Regulators in this position, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, knows—and again I fall into the mistake of giving specific examples—include the Architects Registration Board and the Intellectual Property Regulation Board. There is no rhyme nor reason for why those boards do not have those powers at the moment. Their underlying legislation just happens not to give them these powers.
Noble Lords may reasonably ask why the Bill does not provide only these named regulators this ability. Frankly, it is because we are not entirely sure which they are, because some of the powers are obscure and, as we know, we are dealing with a long list of professions and regulators. We do not see it as a harmful power, so it seems perfectly right to allow the decision on whether to do this to rest with the regulators.
As this is a demand-led process that is new for many regulators, the Government believe that it is prudent not to limit this power to those regulators that have already identified a gap in their powers. This approach supports the UK Government and devolved Administrations in authorising regulators to pursue regulator recognition agreements as they need them. The circumstance where this power might most often be used is following the direct request of a regulator.
I also reassure noble Lords that this is about empowering regulators. It ensures regulators’ autonomy in the exercise of their decision-making power to enter recognition agreements. It does not interfere with the ability to set professional standards and decide who should be recognised to practise; that responsibility lies with the national authority or the regulator. The
authorisation that this power provides is limited and intended to complement regulators’ existing powers. It cannot be used to change a regulator’s ability to recognise overseas qualifications or to reduce the standards of professionals practising in the UK. Regulators must implement recognition agreements through their existing powers to recognise and assess overseas qualifications, so nothing about that—the actual assessing of the qualifications or the individuals—is changed by this power.
It is only right that we support our regulators in making agreements to provide opportunities for professionals to use their qualifications overseas and for those qualified overseas to practise in the UK, where they meet our high standards. This clause will do just that. I can see no harmful implications from it at all, and I commend this clause to stand part of the Bill.