Trade Bill — New Clause 4 — Implementation of International Trade and Government Procurement Agreements — Consent of Devolved Administrations — 17 Jul 2018 at 16:45

The majority of MPs voted against requiring the consent of ministers in devolved administrations before making regulations under the Trade Bill on implementing international trade agreements and a 1994 treaty on government procurement; while retaining the UK government's responsibility for compliance with international agreements.

MPs were considering the Trade Bill^[1].

The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was titled: Convention about Parliament legislating on devolved matters and stated:

• (1) Regulations made under section 1(1) by a Minister of the Crown, may not normally make provision which would be within the devolved competence of a devolved authority unless—
• (a) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of the Scottish Ministers (within the meaning given in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1), the Scottish Ministers consent, or
• (b) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of the Welsh Ministers (within the meaning given in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1), the Welsh Ministers consent, or
• (c) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of a Northern Ireland department (within the meaning of paragraph 9 of Schedule 1), unless the Northern Ireland department has given consent.
• (2) Regulations made under section 2(1) by a Minister of the Crown, may not normally make provision which would be within the devolved competence of a devolved authority unless—
• (a) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of the Scottish Ministers (within the meaning given in paragraph 7 of Schedule 1), the Scottish Ministers consent, or
• (b) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of the Welsh Ministers (within the meaning given in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1), the Welsh Ministers consent, or
• (c) so far as they contain provision which would be within the devolved competence of a Northern Ireland department (within the meaning given in paragraph 9 of Schedule 1), unless the Northern Ireland department has given consent.
• (3) This paragraph does not apply to regulations made by the Secretary of State under—
• (a) section 35 or 58 of the Scotland Act 1998 (as amended),
• (b) section 82 or 114 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (as amended), or
• (c) section 25 or 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (as amended).”

The rejected new clause was accompanied by the following explanatory statement:

• This new clause would ensure that regulations made by a Minister of the Crown within devolved competence require the consent of Ministers in devolved authorities in accordance with the convention about Parliament legislating on devolved matters while making clear that this does not alter the current powers of Ministers of the Crown in respect of international agreements.
• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Trade Bill

Debate in Parliament |