§ Captain Pluggeasked the Prime Minister whether he will instruct Government Departments laying Regulations upon the Table of the House, that copies should be available in the Vote Office, and that attached to the Regulations there should be, in simple language, a statement of what is their real effect, thus obviating much of the inconvenience which arises from drafts by reference?
§ The Prime MinisterRegulations laid before this House vary greatly in importance and general interest. Where there is reason to suppose that Regulations are of special interest to a number of Members, I agree with my hon. and gallant Friend that copies should be available in the Vote Office, and in fact I understand that it is the practice of Departments to arrange for this. For Regulations of minor importance it appears to me that the arrangements under which a copy is in the Library and Members can order copies for themselves in the Vote Office is satisfactory; but I am sure that the Ministers concerned would be prepared to look into any individual case where it was thought that the practice should be applied.
As regards the second part of the question, my hon. and gallant Friend will no doubt agree that it is desirable that 2895W wherever possible Departmental Regulations should be self-explanatory, and I am satisfied that Departments keep this ideal in view, but there are, no doubt, occasions when amending Regulations are not of sufficient importance to justify reprinting the whole of the amended Regulations. In such cases Departments do sometimes append to a rule or regulation a note explaining the changes made thereby, and the question of how far extension of this practice is possible is kept under review; but the matter is not without difficulty, because many of the most important Regulations deal with matters that may raise questions requiring judicial interpretation, in which case an expression by the rule-making authority of its views might be open to objection.