§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her policy on the use of sunset clauses in398W legislation; and which Acts containing such clauses relevant to her Department were passed in each year since 1997. [149330]
§ Alun MichaelDefra actively promotes the better regulation agenda and the use of sunsetting where appropriate. The Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) guidance 'Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment' advises policy officials to consider sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific circumstances where sunsetting may be appropriate. Additional examples are included in the web-based version of the RIA guidance published in November 2003. No acts containing sunset clauses relevant to Defra have been passed since Defra was established in 2001.