1Introduction
1.The Regulatory Reform Committee’s role in the making of Legislative Reform Orders is to assess whether the proposals made in such Orders meet the statutory conditions required of an Order under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 20061 (‘the 2006 Act’), and to examine the proposals against criteria set out in the Standing Orders of the House.2
2.The Committee is also required to consider the Minister’s recommendation as to the approval procedure which should apply to the Order and to report to the House any recommendation that a different procedure should apply.
Background
3.The Draft Legislative Reform (Horseracing Betting Levy) Order 2018 (‘the draft Order) was laid before the House on 9 October by the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (‘the Department’).3 It was accompanied by an explanatory document.4 The Department has also provided the Committee with a copy of responses to its 2017–18 consultation on using a Legislative Reform Order to reform the Horseracing Betting Levy5 and a De Minimis Assessment of the draft Order.6
4.The purpose of the draft Order is to transfer responsibility for the assessment, collection and enforcement of the Horseracing Betting Levy (‘the Levy’) to the Gambling Commission and to transfer responsibility for the use of Levy funds to a new body to be designated by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The transfer of these responsibilities will result in the closure of the Horseracing Betting Levy Board (‘the Levy Board’) and the Levy Appeals Tribunals.
5.The draft Order is intended to be made under section 1 of the 2006 Act, which allows a Minister to make provision by order to remove or reduce any burden resulting directly or indirectly from legislation.7
Parliamentary procedure
6.The Minister recommended that the draft Order be subject to the affirmative procedure. The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee considered the draft Order on 6 November and recommended that, owing to “concerns in relation to aspects of the 2006 Act tests and also to the overarching test of ‘appropriateness’”, the draft Order should be subject to the super-affirmative procedure.8 Accordingly, the scrutiny period in both Houses was extended to 12 December. Under the super-affirmative procedure, the Committees will report on the draft Orders, after which Ministers must consider any representations received before deciding whether to proceed with the draft Order and whether to make any material changes to it before it is re-laid before the House. The Committee will then issue a further report with a final opinion on the Government’s proposals.9
7.To inform our report, the Committee met concurrently with the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. The Committees together took evidence from Lord Lipsey and from Mims Davies MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and officials from the Department. Both Lord Lipsey and the Minister have submitted further written evidence to both Committees.10 We welcome the opportunity for bicameral working to better inform the scrutiny of the proposed measure, and are grateful to members of the Lords Committee, their clerks and advisers for facilitating this novel approach. We hope to continue working with the Lords Committee on draft Orders and other issues of commons interest in the future.
2 Standing Orders of the House of Commons - Public Business 2018, SO No. 141 and SO No. 151 (1)
5 Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Responses to the consultation on the use of a Legislative Reform Order to reform the administration of the Horserace Betting Levy (9 October 2018)
8 House of Lords, Draft Legislative Reform (Horseracing Betting Levy) Order 2018, Thirty-Eighth Report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, Session 2017–19, HL Paper 219, Para 7
9 Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, Section 18
Published: 7 December 2018