Digital Economy Act 2017

17 Parliamentary procedure for designation of age-verification regulator

(1) Where the Secretary of State proposes to make a designation under section 16, the Secretary of State must lay before both Houses of Parliament—

(a) particulars of that proposed designation, and

(b) a statement of the reasons why the Secretary of State is satisfied about the matters mentioned in section 16(5).

(2) The Secretary of State must not make the proposed designation until after the end of the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which the particulars of it were laid.

(3) If either House resolves within that period that the Secretary of State should not make the proposed designation, the Secretary of State must not make it.

(4) But subsection (5) applies, instead of subsections (2) and (3), where the proposed designation would be—

(a) the first to be made under section 16, or

(b) the first to be made under that section for the purposes of a particular function.

(5) The Secretary of State may not make the designation unless it has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(6) But subsections (3) and (5) are without prejudice to the Secretary of State’s power to lay before Parliament particulars of further proposed designations in accordance with this section.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (2)—

(a) where particulars of a proposed designation are laid before each House of Parliament on different days, the later day is to be taken as the day on which the particulars were laid before both Houses, and

(b) in reckoning any period of 40 days, no account is to be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than 4 days.