2 Wildlife
and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004: unjustifiable delay in
publication
Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing
of Certain Captive Birds) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004
(S.I. 2004/640)
2.1 The Committee draws the special attention
of both Houses to these Regulations on the ground that there appears
to have been an unjustifiable delay in their publication.
2.2 These Regulations were made on 8 March, laid
before Parliament on 9 March, and came into force on 5 April.
At the time the Committee considered the instrument at its meeting
on 30 March, it appeared not to have been published. In response
to an enquiry from the Committee, the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs, in a memorandum printed at Appendix 2,
states that the instrument was subsequently published on 31 March,
but does not explain why it had not been published earlier.
2.3 In its second memorandum, the Department states
that, due to staff shortages, there was a delay of 16 days between
the laying of the instrument and its delivery to The Stationery
Office. The Department acknowledges that the delay would have
been avoided if the instrument had been registered and published
using the SI template procedure instead of obtaining printer's
proofs. It acknowledges that its internal guidance that proofs
are not required when an instrument is produced using the template
(as was the case here) was overlooked and expresses its regret
for that.
2.4 The Committee accordingly reports these Regulations
for an unjustifiable delay in publication.
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