HL Deb 26 October 1998 vol 593 cc1780-2

(".—(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make provision dealing with any matter falling within a description specified in any of paragraphs 8 to 15 of Schedule 3 (a "relevant matter"), including—

  1. (a) provision having retrospective effect;
  2. (b) provision for the delegation of functions;
  3. (c) provision amending or repealing any provision made by or under any Act of Parliament or Northern Ireland legislation.

(2) An Order in Council under this section may—

  1. (a) make provision ancillary to provisions (whether in the Order or previously enacted) which deal with any relevant matter;
  2. (b) make such consequential, incidental, supplemental, or transitional provision as appears to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient.

(3) No recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make an Order in Council under this section unless a draft of the Order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

(4) No draft may be laid under subsection (3) unless—

  1. (a) the Secretary of State has laid before Parliament a document which contains a draft of the proposed Order;
  2. (b) the Secretary of State has referred the document to the Assembly for its consideration; and
  3. (c) the period of 60 days beginning with the day on which the document was laid before Parliament has ended.

(5) The Assembly may report to the Secretary of State the views expressed in the Assembly on the proposed Order and shall do so if the Secretary of State so requests.

(6) The draft laid under subsection (3) must be accompanied—

  1. (a) if representations have been made during the period mentioned in subsection (4), by a statement containing a summary of the representations;
  2. (b) if a report has been made to the Secretary of State under subsection (5) during that period, by a copy of the report; and
  3. (c) if, as a result of any representations or report so made, the proposed Order has been changed, by a statement containing details of the changes.

(7) Subsection (3) does not apply to an Order in Council which declares that it has been made to appear to Her Majesty that by reason of urgency the Order requires to be made without a draft having been approved as mentioned in that subsection.

(8) Where an Order in Council contains a declaration such as is mentioned in subsection (7)—

  1. (a) the Order shall be laid before Parliament after being made; and
  2. (b) if at the end of the period of 40 days after the date on which the Order is made it has not been approved by resolution of each House, it shall then cease to have effect (but without prejudice to anything previously done under it or to the making of a new Order).

(9) In reckoning the periods mentioned in subsections (4) and (8), no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(10) References to Acts of the Assembly in any enactment or instrument shall, so far as the context permits, be deemed to include references to Orders in Council under this section.

(11) Orders in Council under this section may be omitted from any annual edition of statutory instruments made by virtue of section 8 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946.

(12) In this section "representations" means representations about a proposed Order in Council under this section made to the Secretary of State and includes—

  1. (a) any relevant resolution of either House of Parliament or of the Assembly; and
  2. (b) any relevant report or resolution of any committee of either House of Parliament or of the Assembly.").

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Clause 72 agreed to.

Clause 73 [Consultation and co-ordination]:

Lord Dubs moved Amendment No. 192E:

Page 36, line 24, leave out ("and for making any necessary financial adjustments").

The noble Lord said: These amendments represent a further working through of arrangements, the basis of which is in Clause 73 and Clause 74, by which the future relationship between the social security, child support and pension systems in Great Britain and Northern Ireland can be co-ordinated. Social security is necessarily a transferred matter under the agreement, as it lies within the responsibilities of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland. But parity has generally been observed between the systems in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and their interrelationships are complex. The amendments are technical elaborations of the provisions in Clauses 73 and 74 for consultation and other aspects of the interrelationship between the two systems. I beg to move.

Lord Holme of Cheltenham

As the wording is rather technical, I wish to be clear about the intention of the Government in this important area. We know that the Government are contemplating large-scale reform of the welfare system. Should we assume that, as a result of these consultations, Northern Ireland will have substantially the same social security policies as the rest of the United Kingdom?

Lord Dubs

Yes, that is correct.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Lord Dubs moved Amendments Nos. 192F to 192Q:

Page 36, line 27, leave out ("and for making any necessary financial adjustments") and insert—

("() Such arrangements as are mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b) may include provision for making any necessary financial adjustments, other than adjustments between the National Insurance Fund and the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund.").

Page 36, line 42, leave out ("Minister") and insert ("department having responsibility for social security").

Page 37, line 14, at end insert— ("() the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 and the Social Security Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1975; () the Social Security Act 1989 and the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1989;").

Page 37, line 17, at end insert— ("() the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 and the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994;").

Page 37, line 23, at end insert— ("() the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 and the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;").

Page 37, line 25, at end insert— ("(5A) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make any modifications of subsection (5) which She considers necessary or expedient.").

Page 37, line 36, at end insert— ("() section 29(2) to (4) of the Child Support Act 1995 (co-ordination with Northern Ireland); () Article 20 of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (co-ordination with Great Britain).").

Page 37, line 41, at beginning insert ("The power conferred by subsection (4) shall be construed as if it had been conferred by an Act of the Assembly; and").

Page 37, line 42, leave out ("the power conferred by subsection (4)") and insert ("that power").

Page 37, line 44, at end insert— ("() A statutory instrument containing an Order in Council under subsection (5A) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.").

On Question, amendments agreed to.

Clause 73, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 74 [The Joint Authority]:

Lord Dubs moved Amendment No. 192R:

Page 38, leave out lines 6 to 8.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Lord Dubs moved Amendment No. 192S:

Page 38, line 9, leave out ("other").

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Lord Dubs moved Amendment No. 192T:

Page 38, line 10, at end insert—

("() The Joint Authority shall also have power to make any necessary financial adjustments, including adjustments between the National Insurance Fund and the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund.").

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Clause 74, as amended, agreed to.

Lord Dubs moved Amendment No. 192U:

After Clause 74, insert the following new clause—