HearFromYourMP

Messages for this constituency

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Posted by Oliver Heald, MP for North East Hertfordshire, at 13:19, Tue 25 April 2006:

The issue that I believe has the potential to have the greatest impact upon the lives of the residents of North-East Hertfordshire is the innocently titled Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.

The Government claims that this Bill is designed to reduce regulation, red tape and bureaucracy. This is an aspiration I believe most people support, but unfortunately the Bill fails to deliver. There is no reference in it to deregulation. Instead, a wide power is granted to Ministers to amend, repeal or introduce new law, using a fast track Order making power. It extends the powers available to Ministers, whilst relaxing the constraints of Parliamentary scrutiny.

Conservatives have been dominant in the debates in Parliament about this Bill. I have, in my role as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, called for clear safeguards, so that the Bill concentrates on deregulation and only allows Ministers to use the powers in the Bill for non-controversial changes. With this in mind I have put forward dozens of amendments to the Bill and argued strongly for their inclusion.

I believe the Bill must be amended to provide the necessary safeguards. Firstly, order-making powers should only be used for specifically deregulatory purposes. Secondly, the powers should not be used to push through important or controversial changes, particularly those with constitutional implications. Finally, it is important that a procedure whereby Committees or either House of Parliament can veto an order is built into the legislation

Following concerted pressure from the Conservatives, the Government has agreed to amend the Bill to focus it on deregulation and to write in a clear veto for the Regulatory Reform Committee over any order. This goes some way towards allaying my concerns. I wait with interest to see what the Government eventually brings forward. Unless the safeguards that I have outlined are built in, the Bill would have profound implications for democracy and would be a move towards government by Ministerial diktat.

I can assure you that we are continuing to work hard to ensure that the necessary safeguards are built into the Bill and that Parliament is not sidelined. I have tabled several new amendments to the Bill and will be pressing for their inclusion when it is next debated. We are cooperating with other parties to assemble and maximise the No vote, if the Government does not make the major changes we are demanding. Our current approach is also designed to encourage Labour and TUC critics of the Bill to surface. This is achieving success, and unless the necessary changes are made, the Conservatives will vote against the Bill when it is next debated.

Thank you for taking the trouble to contact me.

Best Wishes

Oliver Heald MP Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster