These are important amendments that reveal yet another problem in the Bill. First, they deal with the role of the CMA, which under this Bill is intended to monitor and give advice on the working of the internal market. As I understand the way that Section 30 envisages that the CMA will operate, it will authorise an Office for the Internal Market task group to set up groups to look at particular issues. The amendment tabled by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, seeks to ensure that, before such a task force is set up, there is confidence that the appointment of the task force, the terms of the task force and what it is doing have broad buy-in from all the relevant parts of the United Kingdom. Can the Minister explain how, without the amendment tabled by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, this was currently going to be achieved?
For example, the CMA’s parent department is the business department, which is a UK government department. The CMA has a number of board members and panel members; how many of them at the moment have experience of Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish business issues? As the Bill makes clear, the CMA will be appointing a task force where there is a difference between one part of the United Kingdom and another regarding regulatory or statutory requirements. On what basis do the Government envisage these task groups being appointed and set up? Is there any objection to adopting the noble and learned Lord’s suggestion of how to ensure that you get all the other parts of the country involved, as opposed to only BEIS or the CMA? If not, can the Minister put forward an alternative suggestion?
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The last of the three amendments from the noble and learned Lord is equally significant, if not more so. Amendment 171 suggests that, if regulation is to be imposed which is different from one part of the country to another, the Joint Ministerial Committee must be consulted, and if there is disagreement within it then Parliament must be informed of the reason for that disagreement and why the Government are not accepting the dissident view. My understanding—although I could be wrong about this; the noble Lord must correct me if I am—is that the Government envisage that disagreement in relation to this will be dealt with and resolved by the common frameworks process.
We strongly support the common frameworks process. I also support what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, and all noble Lords, with the possible, though unsurprising, exception of the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, agreed with: we want something which is more than just the common frameworks without some statutory recognition to provide a means whereby, if there is disagreement, it can be dealt with collaboratively.
The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, suggests this method in Amendment 171. At the moment, I have been persuaded that the suggestion that the common frameworks process be recognised in the Bill looks more attractive. Could the Minister indicate the Government’s position on Amendment 171 and on whether the common frameworks process should be recognised in the Bill? That would definitely provide a solution.