APPENDIX 1: DRAFT BILLS AND PRE-LEGISLATIVE
SCRUTINY
Note by the Head of the
Scrutiny Unit
1. Draft bills are usually scrutinised either by
a joint committee or by the relevant Commons select committee.
The Scrutiny Unit (together with Lords staff) clerks any joint
committees and usually assists select committees conducting pre-legislative
scrutiny.
2. The number of draft bills has varied greatly from
one session to another:
Draft and government bills presented: 1997-98 - 2004-05
|
| | Number of draft bills presented
| Number of government bills published
|
|
| 1997-98 | 3
| 53 |
| 1998-99 | 6
| 31 |
| 1999-00 | 6
| 40 |
| 2000-01 | 2
| 26 |
| 2001-02 | 7
| 39 |
| 2002-03 | 101
| 36 |
| 2003-04 | 12
| 36 |
| 2004-05 | 52
| 32 |
|
| Notes: | 1 Includes draft clauses of the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill and the Gambling Bill
|
| | 2 Includes draft clauses of the Company Law Reform Bill
|
| Source: | House of Commons Library
|
3. Draft bills published from Session 2002-03 to date and the
committees which considered them are listed in the annex. The
number of committee inquiries was as follows:
| Session | Joint committee inquiries
| Select committee inquiries
|
| 2002-03 | 4
| 7 |
| 2003-04 | 4
| 7 |
| 2004-05 | 1
| 3 |
| 2005-06 (to date) | 0
| 1 |
Note: The sessions are those in which the draft bill was published
rather than necessarily when the inquiry took place. The Joint
Committee on Human Rights has been counted as a select committee
for this purpose. One draft bill in 2002-03 was considered both
by a select committee and a joint committee.
4. The Draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill is so far the only draft
bill scrutinised by a committee during the present Parliament.
The two select committees which jointly examined it reported on
20 December.
PROSPECTS FOR 2006
5. The Government has listed three bills for publication in draft
in 2006: Coroner Reform (March-May), Legal Services (March-May)
and Marine (autumn). As the Government states, further draft bills
may be added. To what extent the current scarcity of draft bills
results simply from this being the first session in a new Parliament
remains to be seen.
6. Scrutiny Unit staff who would otherwise have been
employed on pre-legislative scrutiny have been given other tasks,
especially the inquiry into the Electoral Commission requested
by the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission. They are
also assisting the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill,
which, although not a draft bill, will give rise to similar work,
and the Committee on the Crossrail Bill.
| 
