Appendix C
Letter from the Chairman of the Committee to Rt
Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
Sport
The Report of the Regulatory Reform Committee on
this draft Order was published today; I enclose a copy of the
Report with this letter. As you will see, the Committee has unanimously
recommended that the draft Order be approved.
I am writing on behalf of my Committee to draw one
particular matter in the Report to your attention. When the proposal
for the draft Order was laid before Parliament on 22 January,
the explanatory statement laid with it stated that the Department
had consulted with "Community Organisations" and "Educational
Organisations". Upon enquiry, the Committee was informed
that these designations signified, respectively, The Isle of Dogs
Community Foundation and the Director of Education at Tower Hamlets
Borough Council.
While the Committee was satisfied that the Department's
consultations on the draft Order met the requirements of the Regulatory
Reform Act, it did appear to us to be misleading for the explanatory
statement to have suggested that a range of bodies were consulted
under the relevant headings, rather than only the specific consultees
noted above. This view was expressed in the Committee's Report
on the proposed Order (HC (2003-04) 414).
We were disappointed to note that the explanatory
statement laid with the draft Order made no reference to the matter
raised in our earlier report. I am sorry to have to tell you
that we therefore considered it necessary to draw the matter to
the attention of the House in our Report on the draft Order (paragraph
10).
13 May 2004
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