Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate Environment Bill (Eleventh sitting).
Dr Whitehead
“(2A) But the OEP must not monitor the implementation of, or report on, a matter within the remit of the Committee on Climate Change.
(2B) A matter is within the remit of the Committee on Climate Change if it is a matter on which the Committee is, or may be, required to advise or report under Part 1, sections 34 to 36, or section 48 of the Climate Change Act 2008.”— (Leo Docherty.)
This amendment modifies the OEP’s duty to monitor, and power to report on, the implementation of environmental law under clause 26. It provides that the OEP must not monitor or report on matters within the remit of the Committee on Climate Change, which is defined in subsection (2B) by reference to specified provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008.
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Leo Docherty
The provision of advice from the OEP to Government may not simply be a single event but could be an iterative process. Given that the OEP will become an expert body, Ministers may regularly ask it for advice, which may include specific technical questions on relatively minor matters. Requiring the OEP’s advice to always be laid before Parliament may impede the interaction between the OEP and Government. The Government should be able to seek advice from and respond to their public bodies with ease. This approach is not new; the advice provided by the Committee on Climate Change under sections 33 to 35 of the Climate Change Act 2008 is not laid before Parliament. Flexible, case-by-case provision is needed here, and it would be inappropriate to convert this power into an inflexible duty. The Committee should be assured that, if the OEP’s advice is significant enough for Parliament to debate it, the Minister will lay it before Parliament so that it can be discussed.
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