Education and Skills Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 6:00 pm ar 19 Chwefror 2008.
Nick Gibb
Shadow Minister (Education) (Schools)
I beg to move Amendment No. 29, in Clause 18, page 10, line 20, at end insert
‘and such guidance shall be placed in the library of the House of Commons and notice given of the publication of the guidance by written Ministerial statement.’.
Clause 18 requires local authorities to have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State in relation to part 1. The Bill is full of delegated powers. In its 150 clauses, we find 65 regulation-making powers. It is no wonder, therefore, that, on page 3, the memorandum on delegated powers published by the Government at the same time as the Bill refers to a
“framework Bill containing a range of powers to make Delegated legislation.”
Delegated or secondary legislation has been used increasingly often over the past 20 years, with more and more primary legislation comprising merely a skeleton on which scores of new secondary legislative powers are hung. Every year, thousands of statutory instruments pass through the House, the overwhelming Majority of which go through on the nod, unnoticed and undebated. Even if the statutory instrument is debated—perhaps a Member has prayed against it because it is subject to the negative resolution procedure or it is one of the rarer orders or regulations that are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure—debate is usually confined to 90 minutes in a Committee Room. Given that we spent more than 90 minutes debating clause 16, that period is probably not enough time for us to deal with the powers proposed in the Bill.
On page 5, the delegated powers memorandum states:
“In the majority of cases, powers to make Statutory Instruments are to be subject to negative resolution procedures except clause 3(5)...clause 5(1)...clause 49...clause 70...and clause 117...and clause 146 to the extent that the power is used to amend primary legislation”.
There are also five delegated powers to amend primary legislation—a practice that has grown during the 10 years in which I have been a Member. Over that period we have also seen the growth of tertiary legislation or guidance. It is legislation—it is known as statutory guidance—but it is rarely debated in the House. We debated the contents of the admission code because it was incorporated into law by a statutory instrument, but the vast majority of guidance is issued by the relevant Department, sometimes accompanied by a press release, some of which may, or may not, be reported in the newspapers. There is no parliamentary procedure to pray against guidance or to trigger a debate, and there is certainly no mechanism to vote against such guidance. The detail of policy contained in guidance is often fundamental to the policy, as we heard today from the Minister. He said that guidance will overrule a major part of the Bill in relation to what information can be shared.
The purpose of the amendment is to require the Government to place in the Library any guidance issued under clause 18. In order to alert Members to the fact that guidance has been issued, the amendment also requires the Minister to make a written statement announcing the issuing of the guidance. Given the importance of guidance, and the volume of statutory instruments and guidance, I believe that the amendment is fundamental in enabling Members to carry out their primary role of holding the Government to account and scrutinising legislation.
Jim Knight
Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families, Minister of State (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (Schools and Learners)
I entirely agree with the intentions behind the Amendment, and I shall ensure that all statutory guidance relating to part 1 is placed in the library and that notice will be given that that has been done. It will also be published on the Department’s website. That is routine practice, and there is no need for it to be stated in primary legislation. I therefore hope that the hon. Gentleman will withdraw the amendment.
Nick Gibb
Shadow Minister (Education) (Schools)
Given that explicit assurance, I am happy to beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
This phrase is often used in written answers to indicate that a minister has deposited some relevant information in the House of Commons Library. Typical content includes research reports, letters, and tables of data not published elsewhere.
A list of such depositions can be found at http://deposits.parliament.uk/ along with some of the documents. The Library is not open to the public, but copies of documents can be requested if they are not on that website. For more information, see the House of Commons factsheet: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/P15.pdf
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Delegated legislation is law made by ministers under powers deriving from Acts of Parliament.
Thousands of pieces of delegated legislation, commonly known as statutory instruments, are passed by Parliament each year.
They enable the government to make minor, technical changes to the law without having to introduce a whole new Act of Parliament.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
