Energy Prices Bill

Lord Cunningham of Felling Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 24th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cunningham of Felling (Lab)]

My Lords, I begin by expressing my wholehearted support for the speech given by my noble friend Lord Rooker. He has so comprehensively discussed these issues that it is barely necessary for me to support him, but I intend to do so wholeheartedly, as I have said.

Perhaps I had better say that I was previously a member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and I am now a member of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, as indeed is my noble friend Lord Rooker, as he said. I participated in the discussions of the two reports that he referred to: Democracy Denied and Government by Diktat. It is amazing how little response there has been from Ministers to those fundamentally important reports; fundamental in relation to this House and the other place, and in relation to the control—I use the word “control” advisedly—of ministerial actions and decisions.

The latest report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee—the 14th report of this Session—on the Energy Prices Bill, says in paragraph 10:

“We are disappointed that, by including paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1, the Government appear to have completely ignored the recommendations contained in our report.”


That is true: the Government have completely ignored the recommendations made in the committee’s report. Paragraph 10 continues:

“No attempt has been made to limit the powers or to ensure that they will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.”


There is no provision for that under the Government’s proposals—no provision for parliamentary scrutiny of any kind. Paragraph 10 goes on:

“Nor do we consider that anything close to a compelling justification has been offered for these powers”,


and their inclusion in what the Government intend to pursue.

Paragraph 11 of the report says:

“Accordingly, we consider that the legislative sub-delegation provided by paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1 is inappropriate. We also take the view that the power to give directions is inappropriate to the extent that paragraph 3(2) enables general directions to be given which would have legislative effect.”

This is Ministers giving themselves powers to give general directions that would have legislative effect. In my long experience—35 years in the other place, and a long time in this House—I have never seen proposals like this, ever, from any Government. That is the reality of it. I quote from paragraph 12 of the report:

“Accordingly, for the same reasons we consider that powers conferred by paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 2 are inappropriate.”


The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee is chaired by a person who sits on the Government Benches—a privy counsellor and former Cabinet Minister in the other place. There is no doubt that he is a good chair of the committee. He, along with other Conservative committee members, has signed up to this report, which is a damning indictment of what the Government are doing. It is time for this House and the other place to call a halt.