----------------- -----------------  |  | | Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 10:07 GMT 11:07 UK |
Legislative & Regulatory Reform Bill | AIM To allow Ministers to reform outdated or overcomplicated legislation more quicklyMAIN PROVISIONS | TIMETABLE Responsible department: Cabinet Office Origin: House of Commons Introduced: 11 Nov 2005 Second reading: 9 Feb 2006 Committee stage: 28 Feb, 7 & 9 March 2006 Report stage: 15,16 May 2006
LORDS
First reading: 17 May 2006 Second reading: 13 June 2006 Committee stage: 11, 19 & 25 July 2006 Report stage: 26 October 2006 Third Reading: 1 November 2006
ROYAL ASSENT: 8 November 2006 |
Extending the scope of Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) so they can enact non-controversial changes to the statute book, such as simplifying regulations. Enabling the implementation of uncontroversial Law Commission recommendations, including those that amend the common law Providing ministers with the power to sub-delegate Removing the current legislation on using an RRO to amend legislation less than 2 years old, or provisions which have been amended in the previous 2 years Enabling a RRO to be used to lessen burdens on a minister or government department in order to ease public sector reform. Contains provisions to make the proposed new risk-based Regulatory Compliance Code statutory, and to define its remit PROGRESS Second reading Lords 13 June 2006:No votes, but concerns raised about the scope of the bill to:
-Automatically implement some Law Commission recommendations
-Amend the Human Rights Act
-Amend the first part of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill itself
-Implement EU directives From the 63 powers detailed in the first draft of this controversial bill, 27 are intact. It is expected that the Lords will do much to curb its powers during the remaining stages of the bill. BACKGROUND The bill is the result of a number of reviews looking at the impact of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. This widened ministers' powers to bring orders that changed the law before Parliament, without first being given explicit permission to do so by an Act. The government now considers this 2001 Act to be inadequate and the Legislative & Regulatory Reform Bill would replace it. The Regulatory Reform Committee has briefly examined this bill and has warned that more safeguards need to be introduced to the bill as it stands. Neither opposition party support the bill in its present form and Lord Grocott - the government's Chief Whip in the Lords - has written to the prime minister warning that this bill will be "exceptionally difficult" to get through the Upper House.
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