ANNEX
EXTRACT FROM THE MEMORANDUM BY THE GOVERNMENT, PRINTED IN THE FIRST REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE SCRUTINY OF DELEGATED POWERS, 1992-1993
METHOD OF WORK
2.1 The Committee proposes to take
evidence in writing on each Bill from the relevant Government
Department. Subject to the further views or requests of the Committee,
the Government proposes that such memoranda should give a concise
account of the Bill:
(i) Identifying provisions
for delegated legislation within the Bill.
(ii) Giving a brief description
or statement of their purpose.
(iii) Describing briefly why
the matter has been left to delegated legislation.
(iv) Explaining the procedure
selected for the exercise of each power and why.
2.2 The Government's general intention
would be to produce such memoranda for all Government Bills (except
Finance and Money Bills which the House of Lords does not amend)
when each Bill is introduced into the House of Lords, or as soon
as practicable thereafter. Even if it were considered appropriate
within the conventions of comity between the Houses the Government
does not consider that it would in general be satisfactory for
the House of Lords to begin taking evidence on a Bill which was
still subject to consideration in the Commons, not least because
of the possibility of amendment during Commons' consideration.
It would be undesirable for the new procedure to exclude any possibility
of amendments introducing delegated powers at later stages in
the House of Lords, although this should not, of course, be used
as a manoeuvre to avoid scrutiny by the Committee. The procedure
would not apply to bills passed with exceptional speed. Memoranda
would be placed in the Library of both Houses for the information
of the Commons.
INFORMING DEBATE
3.1 The Government agrees that
the primary purpose of the Committee's reports, as the Committee
will have no powers of amendment, should be to inform debate in
the House. It will therefore be desirable for the Committee to
produce reports by Committee Stage, as envisaged in the Procedure
Committee's report of 22 June. The Committee Stage will then provide
the main opportunity for considering what action to take if the
Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee has raised questions on a
Bill. The Government hopes, as the Lord Chancellor observed during
debate on the Jellicoe report, that when the Committee has considered
and approved provision in Bills for delegated powers, those powers
should not be the subject of further debate by members of the
House during the Bill's subsequent passage, so that work already
carried out is not duplicated.
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