My Lords, if I may, I would like to include Clause 14, which we indicated that we wanted to debate, in this discussion.
The Minister has been constructive in his responses this afternoon, and I thank him for that. If I am less than precise about the issue which I am seeking to identify here, I hope that he will recognise the complexities of the issues involved. We have had one or two late missives. I got my letter from him a mere three-quarters
of an hour or so before I came to the debate and, although his prose is lucid and readily comprehensible, I cannot pretend that I am able fully to address that to the Bill in the way that I would like.
If I establish in my argument the broad terms of the issues that give cause for concern, but they lack the absolute precision that we would normally expect, I hope that the Minister will forgive me. I have no doubt that he is both capable himself and will have expert advice to ensure that we have a fruitful discussion about the precise point.
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The first one I can summarise briefly. I could read out what the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee said, but that may detain us unduly. The Minister knows of its concerns about the legislation, and we share those concern. The committee is concerned about retrospectivity and whether there are two concepts relating to two different dates. It is concerned about regulations under new Section 4AA in existing Section 4B of the 1992 Act. It indicates that it recognises the value of the retrospective position but it is having difficulty squaring it with Section 4B(5), which appears to constitute retrospection going back for a very long time to December 2004.
I have no doubt that the Minister and his department have been much exercised about this, because the committee drew this to the attention of the House. It would be remiss of me if I did not give him the chance to respond to what is an analytical piece of work on its part, which I cannot hope to match. I know that the Minister has been busy in this respect and I apologise if I have not been able to assimilate all the responses. I am sure that I have given him a clear enough steer for him to indicate why the Government are either secure about the framing of the Bill, or if not, will take steps to effect an amendment that we would otherwise be obliged to do.