Member

Does the Minister agree that instruments of this size present a challenge to the House in that we are limited in the amount of scrutiny we are able to undertake on secondary legislation, and that, with the best will in the world and even with brilliant all-seeing Defra civil servants and clever parliamentary drafters, not to mention a caring and able Minister, there will inevitably be many errors and unforeseen circumstances in these regulations? Will she promise not just to keep the regulations under review but to come back to the House as soon as possible when glitches have been discovered? I will not criticise her or Defra if she says, “This bit or that bit ain’t working the way we thought”, or “We need to change something”. There is no shame in that for something this complex and innovative. The shame would be in discovering flaws and not correcting them.