HOUSE OF LORDS Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee 15th Report of Session 2005-06 Drawing special attention to: Draft Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Codes of Practice) Order 2005 Correspondence: Vehicles Crime (Registration of Registration Plate Suppliers) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 Waste (Household Waste Duty of Care) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 Ordered to be printed 22 November and published 24 November 2005 London : The Stationery Office Limited £price HL Paper 70 The Select Committee on the Merits of Statutory Instruments The Committee has the following terms of reference: (1) The Committee shall, subject to the exceptions in paragraph (2), consider— (a) every instrument (whether or not a statutory instrument), or draft of an instrument, which is laid before each House of Parliament and upon which proceedings may be, or might have been, taken in either House of Parliament under an Act of Parliament; (b) every proposal which is in the form of a draft of such an instrument and is laid before each House of Parliament under an Act of Parliament, with a view to determining whether or not the special attention of the House should be drawn to it on any of the grounds specified in paragraph (3). (2) The exceptions are— (a) Orders in Council, and draft Orders in Council, under paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000; (b) remedial orders, and draft remedial orders, under section 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998; (c) draft orders (including draft subordinate provisions orders) under section 1 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001, subordinate provisions orders under that Act and proposals in the form of a draft order under that Act; (d) Measures under the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 and instruments made, and drafts of instruments to be made, under them. (3) The grounds on which an instrument, draft or proposal may be drawn to the special attention of the House are— (a) that it is politically or legally important or gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House; (b) that it may be inappropriate in view of changed circumstances since the enactment of the parent Act; (c) that it may inappropriately implement European Union legislation; (d) that it may imperfectly achieve its policy objectives. (4) The Committee shall also consider such other general matters relating to the effective scrutiny of the merits of statutory instruments and arising from the performance of its functions under paragraphs (1) to (3) as the Committee considers appropriate, except matters within the orders of reference of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Current Membership The Members of the Committee are: Lord Armstrong of Ilminster Baroness Maddock Lord Boston of Faversham Lord Methuen Viscount Colville of Culross Baroness Morgan of Drefelin Viscount Eccles Earl of Northesk Lord Filkin (Chairman) Lord Tunnicliffe Lord Jopling Publications The Committee’s reports are published by the Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee are on the internet at: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/merits.cfm General Information General information about the House of Lords and its Committees, including guidance to witnesses, details of current inquiries and forthcoming meetings is on the internet at: http://www.parliament.uk/about_lords/about_lords.cfm Contacts for the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee If you have any queries regarding the Committee and its work, please contact the Clerk to the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee, Delegated Legislation Office, House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW. The telephone number is 020-7219 8821. The fax number is 020-7219 2571. The Committee’s email address is [email protected] Fifteenth Report INSTRUMENTS REPORTED The Committee has considered the following instrument and has determined that the special attention of the House should be drawn to it on the ground specified. Draft Police and Criminal Evidence 1984 (Codes of Practice) Order 2005 Summary: This Order revises most of the existing PACE codes of practice and introduces a new Code G on arrest, replacing the current array of arrest powers with a rationalised power whereby all offences are arrestable subject to necessity criteria. The changes arise from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Drugs Act 2005 and come into effect from 1 January 2006. Copies of the revised codes are available from the Library or at http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/ operational-policing/powers-pace-codes/pace-codes.html. This Order is drawn to the special attention of the House on the grounds that it gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House and that it is legally important. 1. The Order brings into force on 1 January 2006 revised codes of practice under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) which reflect changes to primary legislation made by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Drugs Act 2005. Copies of the revised codes are available from the Library or on http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational- policing/powers-pace-codes/pace-codes.html. The Home Office has provided an Explanatory Memorandum. 2. During the debate on what became section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Minister of State at the Home Office, undertook to refer proposed revisions to the Codes of Practice to the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) for consideration of the appropriate parliamentary process to implement the revisions and be bound by that recommendation (HL Deb 7 July 2003 col 37-8). The revisions which this instrument brings into force were duly referred to the HASC which recommended that the instrument bringing the revisions into force should be subject to the affirmative procedure. 3. A variety of legislative changes, which affect police powers, will be brought into force on 1 January 2006. These primarily arise from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Drugs Act 2005. The codes also contain other minor amendments to ensure that the codes reflect best policing practice. An outline of the changes to each of the existing Codes A-F is set out in paragraph 7.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum. 4. The Order also introduces a new Code G relating to powers of arrest. Sections 110 and 111 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 amend sections 24 and 25 of PACE, replacing the current array of arrest powers with a rationalised power whereby all offences are arrestable subject to necessity criteria. The grounds for making an arrest are that a constable MERITS OF STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS COMMITTEE 2 has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is committing, has committed or is about to commit an offence and importantly, that an arrest is necessary for any of the criteria listed in Section 110 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. As all offences are now arrestable the previous concepts of “arrestable” and “serious arrestable” offences will no longer apply. INSTRUMENTS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED 5. In our 12th Report, we drew the attention of the House to the Waste (Household Waste Duty of Care) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2900) on the ground that they gave rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House. We have also pursued our concern with the adequacy of preparations for the imposition of the new duty through correspondence with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The correspondence is printed at Appendix 2 to this Report. 6. In our 11th Report, we drew the attention of the House to the Bovine Products (Restriction on Placing on the Market) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2719) on the ground that they gave rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House. The Food Standards Agency has since revoked those regulations and replaced them with the Bovine Products (Restriction on Placing on the Market) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3068) which have the same effect but also amend some of the definitions. The commentary in our 11th Report applies equally to these replacement regulations. INSTRUMENTS NOT REPORTED 7. The Committee sought further information from the Department for Transport in respect of the Vehicles Crime (Registration of Registration Plate Suppliers) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2981). The correspondence is printed at Appendix 1 to this Report. The Committee has considered the instruments set out below and has determined that the special attention of the House need not be drawn to them. Draft instrument requiring affirmative approval Scotland Act 1998 (Modifications of Schedule 5) (No. 3) Order 2005 Instruments subject to annulment SI 2005/2981 Vehicles Crime (Registration of Registration Plate Suppliers) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 SI 2005/3061 Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Regulations 2005 SI 2005/3068 Bovine Products (Restriction on Placing on the Market) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2005 MERITS OF STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS COMMITTEE 3 SI 2005/3069 Local Government Pension Scheme (Civil Partnership) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 SI 2005/3070 Vaccine Damage Payments (Amendment) Regulations 2005 SI 2005/3074 National Health Service (Pension Scheme, Injury Benefits, Additional Voluntary Contributions and Compensation for Premature Retirement) (Civil Partnership) Amendment Regulations