Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 9:45 pm ar 27 Tachwedd 2007.
I should like to refer to the point made in response to the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead. Clause 120(6) is a Henry VIII provision, allowing primary legislation to be amended by statutory instrument. Will the Minister briefly respond to the concerns in this regard? Obviously, as a matter of principle, use of this type of provision should exceptional, rather than the norm. Would it not have been more appropriate to consider in more depth whether there was a need to have flexibility implicit in the Bill, rather than seeking to use an order-making power to build in the flexibility that the Minister mentioned with regard to alleviating his concerns?
We have tried to meet the concerns that some people have that the Bill is unnecessarily restrictive and does not do what it should on support. We have provided for what we believe to be the right level of support at present, but we thought it appropriate and proportionate to include the opportunity to change that if necessary. That is why the provision is in the Bill.