Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

Very dark. I shall not use emotive words. The Under-Secretary described the sensible complete revision of this aspect of the Bill. He kindly said that we had raised a range of worries about the powers that were being given, not only to Secretaries of State but to any Minister of the Crown, to devolve virtually anything to anybody. We thought that that was excessive, bearing in mind the House’s important role of accountability to the people who elected us. If we start devolving any function to any organisation, theories of accountability seem to go out of the window. I am thus especially pleased that the Government have backed down from providing for such a widespread power and now want to give a power to only the Secretary of State that will relate to the functions only of DEFRA. I am also pleased that the Government are getting rid of clause 71, yet are effectively not replacing it. In other words, agreements will be entered into only between the Government and a designated body. The idea of entering into agreements with non-designated bodies seems to have gone. I welcome that decision, because the point of having designated bodies was completely nullified if one could delegate to a non-designated body. When my right hon. Friend the Member for West Derbyshire (Mr. McLoughlin) read schedule 7, he identified the fact that the Government would be able to delegate to the Wine Standards Board. He is concerned about what they might want to delegate to that board, but no doubt the Under-Secretary will clarify that important point for us. Perhaps we will need to go on for a moment so that he can receive a note from the Box, because I suspect that the answer is not in his brief. We want to debate substantive issues tonight, so I do not wish to detain the House. We welcome the new clauses as a significant change of heart by the Government. They bode well and reflect the constructive way in which the Government and Opposition parties have engaged on the Bill. The measures take us a long way forward and I welcome them.