HL Deb 17 May 1982 vol 430 cc467-8

2.45 p.m.

Lord Renton

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress is now being made with the consolidation of statutes and what are the present limits on the pace of consolidation.

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, the pace of consolidation is being maintained. This represents a considerable achievement by the Law Commission at a time when additional resources cannot be made available. Apart from specifically Scottish consolidations, 10 consolidation Acts were passed in 1979–80 and 12 in 1980–81. In this Session two Bills have been passed and three more introduced. At least three, and possibly five, more Bills will be introduced later in the Session. The main constraints on consolidation are the availability of draftsmen, the inhibiting effect of current legislation and the lack of resources in Whitehall departments.

Lord Renton

My Lords, may I thank my noble and learned friend for that Answer. It is familiar to him that great satisfaction is derived from maintaining the pace of consolidation. Would he agree, however, that if the pace could be further increased it would be of great benefit to all concerned? And in so far as my noble and learned friend mentioned that the shortage of parliamentary counsel is an important factor, will he say whether there is any hope of increasing the number of parliamentary counsel doing this work with the Law Commission?

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend. I think it is fair to say that with the resources available one has to draw a balance between the process of law reform and the process of consolidation, because they draw upon the same draftsmen. The present position is that one full-time draftsman and four part-time draftsmen are wholly engaged on consolidation, as well as two full-time draftsmen who give part of their time to this work. In addition, consolidation is done, as time permits, by parliamentary counsel in Whitehall, but this of course is a bonus which I am not entitled to demand. I would not pretend that the situation is wholly satisfactory, but I think that the Law Commission is doing a very good job.

Lord Morris

My Lords, may I ask my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor whether there is any hope of his department's success in trying to persuade successive Governments to legislate less and consolidate more?

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, my noble friend is pushing at an open door so far as I am concerned, but one does not seem to achieve this desirable end quite so quickly as one would expect.