Business of the House (Hansard, 20 May 1993)

§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Wakeham)
My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Moved, That Standing Order 44 (No two stages of a Bill to be taken on one day) be dispensed with to enable the Non-Domestic Rating (No. 2) Bill to be taken through its remaining stages on Tuesday next and the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Bill through its remaining stages on Thursday 27th May.—(Lord Wakeham.)

§ Lord Wigoder
My Lords, perhaps I may refer to the Non-Domestic Rating (No. 2) Bill. I do so as a member of the Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee and in the absence of the noble Lord, Lord Rippon, who is the chairman of that committee. Is the noble Lord the Lord Privy Seal aware that not only is that Bill one of extremely recent introduction but that the papers to enable our committee to consider it arrived only this morning? The committee is due to meet on Monday afternoon to consider those papers. It may cause problems if we wish to comment to your Lordships on a Bill which is due to go through all its remaining stages on the following day.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, perhaps I may ask my noble friend why it is necessary to curtail discussions on those two quite important and very interesting measures. They are best discussed in a Second Reading debate followed by a Committee stage, at which the arguments adduced on Second Reading can be challenged, if necessary by amendment. Therefore, it seems a great pity to limit the operation of the scrutiny of this House on two quite important measures in that way.
I appreciate that the Government's legislative programme may be in difficulties but, with great respect, is it justifiable to cut the proper scrutiny of those Bills in this way for that purpose?

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, perhaps I may say from these Benches that we agreed to the request by the Government to do what was done in another place. That request received all-party agreement in order to speed the measures through the House. The measures are separate. The first, on non-domestic rating, is designed to bring much-needed relief to certain groups of businesses which benefit from provisions made in the Budget. The 1856 second Bill needs to pass through the House as quickly as possible because it gives certain protection as regards reinsurance. Therefore, although we are loath on this side of the House to agree to deny opportunities for debate, there are exceptions and we believe that these two Bills are such exceptions.

§ Lord Wakeham
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Graham of Edmonton, for confirming that this Motion was tabled with the agreement of the usual channels. He is correct that the reason why the Government believe that this is the right way in which to proceed is that both these Bills need to proceed quickly. They are non-contentious and have the support of all parties. They passed through another place extremely quickly.
An earlier enactment of the Non-Domestic Rating Bill will provide immediate relief for businesses from higher rates liabilities, thus helping them to recover from the recession. The Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Bill provides statutory backing which enables the Government to fulfil their commitment to act as a reinsurer of last resort in respect of damage caused by terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom.
The noble Lord, Lord Wigoder, raised an important point concerning the responsibilities of the Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee. I can best answer the noble Lord by saying that the effect of the Motion is to enable Standing Order 44 to be dispensed with to enable the Bill to be taken through all its stages on Tuesday. It does not require the House to take all stages on Tuesday. If the Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee, following its meeting on Monday, were to consider that a point of sufficient importance arose on the Bill to justify further consideration, it would be possible to arrange for a separate Committee stage after the Whitsun Recess. Moreover, it is possible for members of the committee to raise any general points on the legislation during the Second Reading debate. Therefore, we are not obliged to put the suspension into effect. We can still proceed in the normal way if it is thought better to do so after the committee has met on Monday.