§ 7.20 p.m.
§ Viscount UllswaterMy Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ Moved, That the regulations laid before the House on 8th June be approved [20th Report from the Joint Committee.] —(Viscount Ullswater.)
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, the House will be grateful to the noble Viscount for moving the Motion, but I am afraid that I have to tell him that if your Lordships were to accept the Motion it would be without effect. A simple calculation of the date on which the order was made, and a look at the regulations under Section 708(2) of the Companies Act 1985, under which the order was made, will show that the order was made on 7th June 1990 and that within 28 days it had to be approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
Staling with 7th June, if you add 27 days to the 7th June you come to 34. Unless the Government have inadvertantly changed the calendar there are 30 days in June. Therefore 4th July —that is, yesterday —was the last day on which this resolution could have been taken to give legitimacy to the order about which the noble Viscount is talking. The order itself is unexceptional, but I am afraid that we cannot accept: the Motion that the noble Viscount has put.
§ Viscount UllswaterMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel, was good enough to tell me earlier that he believed, on advice, that the regulations were out of time. I am advised that this is indeed the case. I am most grateful to the noble Lord for drawing my attention to this and for agreeing to the procedure that we have followed; namely, that I should move the Motion in my name formally so that the noble Lord could point out that the regulations were out of time.
This is the result of a simple miscalculation of the date by which the regulations had to be approved.
2330 In the circumstances there is nothing I can do today except withdraw the Motion in my name. I apologise to your Lordships for the fact that the order was not brought before this House in sufficient time for it to be considered before it expired. A new order has been made today which takes effect tomorrow. Your Lordships will be invited to consider this in due course. I beg to withdraw the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, before the House decides on whether the noble Viscount can withdraw his Motion, could he give the House an assurance that DTI Ministers in future will get their act together? There have been so many nonsenses coming out from DTI Ministers. A simple miscalculation like this is not good enough. Will the noble Viscount give us an assurance that the Department of Trade and Industry, from the Secretary of State downward, will get its act together and make sure that your Lordships' time is not wasted?
§ Viscount UllswaterMy Lords, I have made an apology to the House, and I shall of course pass on the remarks of the noble Lord to the department.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.