Lords Grand Committee — sitting of 7 September 2026: transcript & video

15:28 - 15:52

Speaker 2

Division in the chamber while we are sitting. The committee will adjourn as soon as the division bells ring and resume after 10 minutes. Grand Committee on the Cyber Security and Resilience Network and Information Systems Bill.

Clause 37, amendment 92C, Lord Clement-Jones.

15:52 - 17:29

Speaker 1

My Lords, I think we're in the final furlong, and I rise to move amendment 92C standing in my name on the marshal list and to speak to the closely allied amendment 95C under my name. My Lords, these amendments raise a profound and non-negotiable constitutional principle. They respond directly to the almost always authoritative recommendations of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee in its seventh report of this session, and are strongly supported by the principles laid down by the Select Committee on the Constitution in its third report.

Together, these amendments seek to delete two deeply objectionable provisions that represent a classic example of secondary legislation creep, provisions where the executive is seeking a blank cheque to unilaterally rewrite the rules. My Lords, let's first look at amendment 92B, which targets clause 37 and seeks to leave out subsection 7 on page 62, line 24. Under the bill as drafted, clause 37(7) grants the Secretary of State the unilateral power to make regulations to amend the act itself in order to change and potentially dilute the consultation and parliamentary scrutiny requirements that apply to a code of practice. My Lords, this is a Henry VIII power of really quite an extensive kind.

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