Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [HL]

Lord Lansley Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 5th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, Amendment 56 stands in my name. As it is, I guess, the last time that I will speak on this Bill, perhaps I may use the opportunity to join others in saying thank you to the Ministers for the willingness they have shown to meet us and to show flexibility on parts of the Bill, even if that flexibility has possibly been more evident on its more marginal and peripheral aspects than on the core provisions, which matter so much to us. I thank them anyway for it.

One of those core provisions, which we have debated at length, is of course Clause 2(7), which creates the power to align UK legislation with EU law. My Amendment 56 would ensure that the affirmative parliamentary procedure applied to such secondary legislation under that provision. This is important, as the procedure of legislating by cross-reference to the laws of another entity is certainly, to borrow terminology from another sphere, novel and contentious. Therefore, if it happens—I am sure it is going to happen and probably quite a lot, I fear—it really ought to do so only consciously and according to a procedure that gives both of this Parliament’s Houses the maximum powers to be aware that it is happening and to influence it to the maximum possible. Of course, that is what the affirmative procedure is about. I hope that, even at this late stage, the Ministers might look favourably on this amendment in the interests of respecting the rights and powers of this Parliament.

[Lord Lansley (Con)]

My Lords, if I may briefly intervene in this group, we had a substantive debate on Monday, in which I participated, where we looked at the recommendations from the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. As we noted, it welcomed some of the amendments, which we technically have not reached but which were debated then. They are Amendments 44 to 46, which have largely removed the Henry VIII powers. To that extent, therefore, I note that although my noble friend may come on to speak about Amendment 48, in practice that amendment is designed to prevent the use of Henry VIII powers. However, the Government have tabled amendments that have largely removed that risk.

I very much support Amendment 56 in the names of my noble friends Lord Sharpe of Epsom and Lord Frost. In so far as the Government have not done what the Delegated Powers Committee looked for, which was for all these regulation-making powers to be subject to the affirmative procedure, it seems that we should focus our attention on where there is still the most important deficiency. It also seems that, precisely for the reasons that my noble friend Lord Frost gave, which I will not repeat, at its most extreme, the power in Clause 2(7) would literally be if the Government brought forward a regulation saying that all the product requirements in this country would be met in so far as they corresponded to the General Product Safety Regulation issued by the European Union, which, of course, came out in December 2024. They could easily come forward with such a regulation. That would be sweeping in its effect, and it would be on a negative basis.

--- Later in debate ---

This is the final group we will discuss on this Bill, and I want to take the opportunity to thank all noble Lords for their considered and expert scrutiny. I am aware that we still have Third Reading to come, but as we approach the end of Report, I would like to state how much the Government have valued the contributions of every single noble Lord to ensure that the Bill is as robust as possible. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions.

[Lord Lansley (Con)]

I am not sure that the noble Lord has explained why the regulations that allow UK product requirements to be set by reference to European Union law are uncontentious and highly technical. They seem to me to be neither of those things.

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My Lords, like I say, I really do not want to repeat what we debated last week, but the whole purpose of where we are today is to give us the freedom either to diverge from or to mirror any regulation, particularly product regulation, as most of it comes from the European Union. Either we follow it, or we do not—that is the freedom that we have.

As I said, I am aware that we have Third Reading still to come but, as we approach the end of Report, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. It will probably come as no surprise that, for the reasons that I outlined earlier, I ask for the amendment to be withdrawn.