"The Bill has the potential to be the most constitutionally significant Bill that has been brought before Parliament for some years. It needs to be scrutinised with particular care." -- The Regulatory Reform Committee Report, 31 Jan 2006,  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmdereg/878/87802.htm

"The fact is that the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is the most radical such measure anywhere in the world." -- Nick Ainger MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales), 18 January 2006,  http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2006-01-18a.823.3#g824.2

"I think we have arrived at the Bill through a period of -- whilst I accept not pre-legislative scrutiny -- consultation, particularly with business organisations through last summer." --
Jim Murphy MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Cabinet Office), Evidence to the Procedure Committee, 7 February 2006,  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmproced/uc894-i/uc89402.htm

The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, which the government has put before Parliament is a turbo-charged version of their
Regulatory Reform Act 2001 that they have decided does not give them enough power.

This new law would allow a government Minister, advised by a business organization, to rewrite any Act of Parliament, and any order, rule, regulation, scheme, warrant, or byelaw made under an Act of Parliament, as long as it was not -- in their opinion --
"highly controversial".

If this law is passed, any Minister will be allowed to rewrite any law without even (a) preliminary consultation with those who are affected by it, or (b) writing and publishing a document explaining exactly why the changes are necessary. These two requirements are seen as too great a burden to Ministers in this fast-changing world, one where the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has decided that we should discard the our "old regulatory model which started in Victorian times" and adopt a new "risk-based approach", one where the public takes the risk that business and government will not "act irresponsibly".

The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill would represent, in the Government's own words, a major constitutional change. It is a massive power grab by Ministers to remove the burden that they have of putting their legislation before Parliament and the people and being forced to stand up and explain it. From now on they would be able to change laws merely by decree.

Parliamentary scrutiny may have been weak in recent years, and it is a sign of its extreme weakness that this Bill has already passed its Second Reading and Committee Stage without any challenge. If it passes its Third Reading and the House of Lords without being stopped, then Parliament will have comprehensively illustrated its irrelevance. It will no longer be worthwhile to petition your MP about a change in the law that is being drafted by the Government under the powers of this Bill. You will have to take your representations to the Ministers directly where they will not be heard because they are "too busy". Ministers don't have the time to listen to anyone but business organizations or Parliament. The latter they have decided should be optional.

The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is welcomed by employers and all those who are fortunate enough to have access to Government Ministers and would like to see their unnecessary burden of having to justify the actions of the government before Parliament and the people removed. This Bill affects everything that the government does without exception.


The only vote on it in Parliament so far can be found at:

 http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2006-02-09&number=157