Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Leong) (Lab)

My Lords, I beg to move that this House do agree with the Commons on Amendment 1. With the leave of the House, I will also speak to Amendments 2 and 3. On Amendment 1, the Government have been clear in their intention to maintain strong, co-operative relations with the devolved Governments and to ensure that the devolution settlements are respected in both principle and practice. This amendment, which the Government introduced in the other place, inserts a new clause that would place a statutory requirement on the Secretary of State to obtain the consent of the devolved Governments where regulations contain provisions within their devolved competencies. This amendment goes further than the amendments tabled during the passage of the Bill through this House, which provided only a consult mechanism. This amendment provides for a consent mechanism, with a decisive role for devolved Ministers. It will also underpin continued collaboration to develop product regulation to best support businesses and consumers in all parts of the United Kingdom. I thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, whose knowledge in this area I have found extremely beneficial and helpful. He is not able to speak today, but I met him on 17 June and he is happy for me to say that he is pleased with the Government’s approach to devolution in this Bill. I thank him for his engagement and contributions during the passage of this legislation. I also thank the noble Lords, Lord Sharpe and Lord Wigley, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, with whom I have engaged on this amendment. With this specific context in mind, I am pleased to inform the House that the devolved legislatures have all granted legislative consent Motions to the Bill. I thank ministerial colleagues and officials in the devolved Governments for their engagement and collaborative approach to the Bill. Amendments 2 and 3 are technical amendments. The first deals with a technical correction to the drafting of the Bill, and I will briefly outline the need for it. The amendment makes a drafting change to Clause 12(4). This clause lists the regulation-making clauses in the Bill that are subject to the affirmative statutory instrument procedure. The previous drafting includes Clause 9 in the list, which was an unintended consequence of the previous amendment inserting Clause 9 into the Bill. Unlike the other types of provision specified in Clause 12(4), Clause 9 does not confer a power to make a particular type of substantive provision. Rather, it specifies that regulations can amend existing provisions distinct from making fresh regulations. This technical amendment removes this unintended impact by removing the reference to Clause 9. On the final technical amendment, the House is aware that the Government have been clear that the Bill will ensure that we have the ability to deliver an effective product regulatory regime in the United Kingdom. The amendment the Government made in the other place is a necessary technical amendment to correct an amendment that was inserted at Lords Third Reading to ensure that the powers in the Bill can be used effectively, such as by introducing cost recovery provisions in accordance with Clause 8. I beg to move.