Education (Environment and Sustainable Citizenship) Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2021-12-03
Topic: Education
David John Maclean (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who took part in this short debate. I must admit I felt a bit guilty, in that the Bill was due to go through on the nod a week last Monday and, when I put down the amendment, I knew it would kick it back to a Friday. I was worried then that the Bill would fall altogether, but I am grateful for this chance to have a discussion today. Although it has ranged slightly wider than I had anticipated, there is no harm in that. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Knight of Weymouth, for his support and all noble Lords who mentioned COP 26. When I put on my face mask today, which I acquired when I was in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea that COP 26 would be so relevant to today’s debate I also thank the noble Lord and the Minister for mentioning the Department for Education’s attitude to guidance. I am grateful for some of the things that she said, but some things the department had been doing before her time, in the way it issued guidance and the attitude it took to laying it before Parliament, were contrary to what she informed of us today. I am referring to the school uniform guidance. I moved an amendment saying that it should be laid before the House as a negative procedure, as regulations. The answer from the department—I paraphrase slightly and I hope I am not exaggerating for effect too much—was, "No, we are not going to bother you with that. We issue thousands of pages of guidance each year, and we have always got away with not laying it before Parliament; why would we create a precedent now of troubling your little heads in Parliament with this guidance?" The second excuse was "A lot of our guidance changes very regularly and we cannot trouble Parliament with it". The school uniform guidance is unlikely to change regularly and it is unlikely that this guidance will change regularly. The same argument applies: it should be laid before Parliament in the negative procedure. Even if it does change regularly, the department has to write the guidance. There is no problem in laying that guidance as a regulation through the negative procedure. Hardly anyone would object to it 99.9% of the time Going slightly off piste, like the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, the final thing I have to say is that my amendment to this Bill was small and I am grateful that everyone agrees with it. Next Tuesday, the House will be looking at the Health and Care Bill. In my three years as chair of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee—my committee has not looked at it officially yet—I have never seen a Bill with such appalling delegations of power. There are about 150 delegations. It is a skeletal Bill, with no guts or detail to it. There is disguised legislation, where regulations are called guidance, protocols or directions—anything to avoid them coming before Parliament. I hope noble Lords participating in that Bill, irrespective of its other merits, look at all the delegated powers in it and give them proper consideration. In thanking noble Lords for their contributions, I am delighted that my amendment finds favour with the Committee.