Letter submitted by Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP, Leader of the House of Commons

 

 

INTERLEAVING OF BILLS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

 

Thank you for your letter of 28 October about interleaving bills and explanatory notes asking for comments before the Procedure Committee makes its final decision. I thank the Committee for this opportunity.

 

I believe the main benefit of interleaving bills is that explanatory notes are more accessible to the specialist and the general reader. It also means the explanatory notes set out in practical terms what the impact of the provision is instead of replicating the bill text.

 

If the text and notes are interleaved it leads to better ways to explain the bill text.  The Government will continue to pursue electronically interweaving text to make it more accessible to a wider audience.

 

Having the Equality Bill interleaved in paper form has been beneficial in clearly explaining a large piece of legislation. I therefore believe that this is useful for bills. I want Departments to have the option of arranging for interleaving of draft bills and that interleaving actual bills should treated on a case by case basis in consultation with the House with an awareness of the costs involved.

 

January 2010