Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)

My Lords, Amendments 351A and 351B, tabled by my noble friend Lady Young, would require regulations containing consequential amendments made under the power in Clause 89 to be subject to the super-affirmative procedure. Although I wholly agree that it is crucial that regulations receive the appropriate level of scrutiny, the super-affirmative procedure is intended to provide for statutory instruments considered particularly important or complex. I want to assure noble Lords that any amendments made under this power would be limited to either consequential or technical changes that are required to ensure the proper functioning of the system. I trust that noble Lords would agree that use of the procedure for such amendments is not likely to be an effective use of parliamentary or government time. Therefore, I hope my noble friend will agree not to press her amendments. Amendment 356, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, would require that the Secretary of State responsible for carrying out all relevant functions under this part be nominated in the Bill as the Defra Secretary of State. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, said in an earlier debate that it would be unusual to explicitly set out in legislation which Secretary of State is being referred to, as this could risk confusion down the line if, for example, departments or portfolios changed. I take the point that the noble Baroness made. In addition, it will generally be up to the Government of the day to agree which Secretary of State was best placed to use which powers. In the case of the powers in question, we recognise the role the Secretary of State for Defra needs to play in the nature restoration fund. To reassure noble Lords, and as I clarified this morning, we would expect the Secretary of State for Defra to lead on the consideration and approval of EDPs as the NRF is established. However, we do not want to put this specifically in the Bill, partly because of the precedent it sets but also because there may be certain circumstances where it is appropriate for another Secretary of State to carry out functions under this part. I cannot give the noble Lord an example because we do not expect it to be a frequent thing. It would have to be looked at specifically at the time if there were circumstances that meant another Secretary of State would have the knowledge and the expertise required to make the judgments and the assessments that were needed. Just in case that could happen, we do not want to remove the possibility by specifying the Environment Secretary purely in isolation in the Bill. I hope that noble Lords will agree not to press their amendments.