Serious Crime Bill [HL]

No, my Lords.The noble Lord will know that at the moment the current Secretary of State for the Department for Constitutional Affairs has two titles. One is in relation to the Lord Chancellor, whose role, which I have described in answer to the noble Lord’s amendment, has been clearly defined with regard to the judiciary, the rule of law and so on. Those functions currently sit alongside the Secretary of State’s other functions, but he has a two-hatted role. The roles that will be discharged by the Secretary of State will not fit within the Lord Chancellor’s role because that role has been clearly defined. These provisions sit outwith that, but within the proper ambit of what will be discharged by a Secretary of State either for the Home Department or for the new Ministry of Justice.