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Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
New clause 6—Health and Safety Commission—
'After section 2 of the WIA there is inserted—
"2A Health and Safety Commission
(1) The Secretary of State, the Assembly and the Authority shall from time to time consult the Health and Safety Commission, and relevant undertakers, about all safety matters which may be relevant to the carrying out of any of their and relevant undertakers' respective functions under this Act.
(2) The Secretary of State, the Assembly and the Authority shall, in carrying out their functions under this Act, take into account any advice given by the Health and Safety Commission about any safety issue, whether or not in response to consultation under subsection (1).".'.
New clause 7—Appeals against enforcement orders—
'(1) Section 21 of the WIA (validity of enforcement orders) is amended as follows.
(2) At the end of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), there is omitted the word "or".
(3) After paragraph (b) of subsection (1), there is added—
"(c) that the making or confirmation of the order was based on an error of law or fact; or
(d) that in the circumstances of the case, the making or confirmation of the order was not reasonable."
(4) For subsection (2) there is substituted—
"(2) On any such application, the High Court may, if satisfied that any of the grounds set out in subsection (1) above are proved—
(a) quash the order or any provision of the order; or
(b) vary the whole of the order, or any part of the order whether the application relates to that part of the order or not.".'.
New clause 10—Duty to carry out regulatory impact assessments—
'After section 5 of the WIA there is inserted—
"5A Duty to carry out impact assessments
(1) This section applies where—
(a) the Authority is proposing to do anything for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying out of its functions; and
(b) it appears to it that the proposal is important;
but this section does not apply if it appears to the Authority that the urgency of the matter makes it impracticable or inappropriate for it to comply with the requirements of this section.
(2) A proposal is important for the purposes of this section only if its implementation would be likely to do one or more of the following—
(a) to involve a major change in the activities carried on by the Authority;
(c) to have a significant impact on the general public in England and Wales or in a part of England and Wales.
(3) Before implementing its proposal, the Authority must either—
(a) carry out and publish an assessment of the likely impact of implementing the proposal; or
(b) publish a statement setting out its reasons for thinking that it is unnecessary for it to carry out an assessment.
(4) An assessment carried out under this section—
(a) may take such form, and
(b) must relate to such matters.
as the Authority considers appropriate.
(5) In determining the matters to which an assessment under this section should relate, the Authority must have regard to such general guidance relating to the carrying out of impact assessments as it considers appropriate.
(6) Where the Authority publishes an assessment under this section—
(a) it must provide an opportunity of making representations to it about its proposal to members of the public and other persons who, in the Authority's opinion, are likely to be affected to a significant extent by its implementation;
(b) the published assessment must be accompanied by a statement setting out how representations may be made; and
(c) the Authority is not to implement its proposal unless the period for making representations about it has expired and it has considered all the representations that were made in that period.
(7) Where the Authority is required (apart from this section)—
(a) to consult about a proposal to which this section applies, or
(b) to give a person an opportunity of making representations about it,
the requirements of this section are in addition to, but may be performed contemporaneously with, the other requirements.
(8) Every report under section 192B must set out—
(a) a list of the assessments under this section carried out during the financial year to which the report relates; and
(b) a summary of the decisions taken during that year in relation to proposals to which assessments carried out in that year or previous financial years relate.
(9) The publication of anything under this section must be in such manner as the Authority considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of the persons who, in the Authority's opinion, are likely to be affected if its proposal is implemented.".'.
Amendment No. 19, in schedule 1, page 135, line 8, after 'chairman', insert ', a chief executive'.
Amendment No. 29, in page 135, line 8, leave out 'and'.
Amendment No. 20, in page 135, line 8, leave out 'at least two' and insert 'no fewer than three'.
Amendment No. 30, in page 135, line 9, at end insert
'and one other member appointed by the National Assembly for Wales'.
Amendment No. 21, in page 135, line 9, at end insert—
'(1A) Including the chairman, the majority of members of the Authority shall be nonexecutive members.'.
Amendment No. 31, in page 135, line 24, after 'State', insert
'or the National Assembly for Wales in the case of a member appointed by the Assembly'.
Amendment No. 14, in page 136, line 15, at beginning insert—
'(1) The Secretary of State shall, after consulting the chairman and the Assembly, appoint a person (who may, subject to subparagraph (2), also be a member of the Authority) to act as chief executive of the Authority on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of State may think appropriate.
(2) A person appointed as chief executive may not at the same time be a chairman.'.
Amendment No. 18, in clause 38, page 42, line 20, at end insert—
'(2A) That description must include, so far as the Authority believes it to be relevant for the financial year in question, a statement concerning how the Authority intends thereby to meet its objectives and duties.'.
Amendment No. 127, in clause 41, page 48, line 34, after 'research', insert 'and regulatory impact assessment'.
Amendment No. 128, in page 48, line 47, at end insert
'and
(b) a regulatory impact assessment of his proposals to be carried out for the purpose of assessing the likely quantitative and qualitative environmental, public health, economic and social impacts of his proposals.
(7A) The Secretary of State shall not proceed with any proposal for the making of regulations under subsection (4) above where it is apparent from the regulatory impact assessment carried out under subsection (7)(b) above that the adverse effects of the regulations would outweigh their benefit.'.
Amendment No. 129, in clause 42, page 50, line 17, after 'research', insert 'and regulatory impact assessment'.
Amendment No. 130, in page 50, line 30, at end insert
'and
(b) a regulatory impact assessment of his proposals to be carried out for the purpose of assessing the likely quantitative and qualitative environmental, public health, economic and social impacts of his proposals.
(7A) The Secretary of State shall not proceed with any proposal for the making of regulations under subsection (4) above where it is apparent from the regulatory impact assessment carried out under subsection (7)(b) above that the adverse effects of the regulations would outweigh their benefit.'.
Government amendments Nos. 87 to 89.
Amendment No. 22, in schedule 4, page 174, line 35, leave out from 'which' to end of line 39 and insert 'represents either—
(a) the amount which the water undertaker—
(i) reasonably expected to recover from relevant customers; but
(ii) is unable to recover from those customers as a result of their premises being supplied with water by the licensed water supplier; or
(b) the amount which represents the costs incurred by the water undertaker in carrying out its functions insofar as they are—
(i) directly related to the customer in question, or
(ii) represent an allocation of the water undertakers' fixed costs,
as the Authority may in any case determine.
(3A) The Authority may, in determining the appropriate amount for the purposes of subsection (3) above, take account of the benefits to consumers of determining an amount which promotes competition in wholesale water supply by secondary water undertakers.'.
Government amendments Nos. 123, 107 and 110.
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