APPENDIX 1: GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
I am very grateful for the Eighth Report of the Constitution
Committee on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny in the 2007-08 session.
This letter responds to the conclusions contained within the report.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the fact that you have
not received an earlier response.
The Government remains committed to the publication
of bills in draft for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny wherever possible
and, as the Committee recognises, this was demonstrated by the
publication of nine Bills in draft in the 2007-08 session, a significant
increase on the previous three years. However, we also recognise
that sustained effort is needed to maintain this progress and
this becomes more challenging towards the end of a Parliament
when there is less time to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny
on bills before they are introduced.
Since the Committee's report was published in March,
the Government has published two draft bills this session (2008-09),
the draft Bribery Bill and the draft Flood and Water Management
Bill. As re-iterated in the Government's Draft Legislative programme,
published as part of 'Building Britain's Future' on 29 June,
we also intend to publish a further three draft bills later this
session, the Immigration Simplification Bill, the Antarctica Bill
and the Civil Law Reform Bill. We had intended also to publish
draft Bills on Community Empowerment and on Communications Data,
thereby bringing the total to seven, but, in the event, these
have been withdrawn, in both cases so that the Government can
consult further on the underlying policy issues. The Government
does not believe that it is a sensible use of Parliamentary time
to consider draft Bills where the underlying policy to which they
give effect has not been thoroughly developed within Government.
The Draft Legislative Programme also announced the
Government's intention to publish two further draft bills in the
next Session, 2009-10: the House of Lords Reform Bill and the
Animal Health Responsibility and Cost Sharing Bill. As the next
session will begin with the Queen's Speech on 18 November and
must end at the latest by 10 May, it is unlikely that there will
be time to publish further bills in draft and carry out pre-legislative
scrutiny.
The Government also recognises that improvements
could be made to the process of publishing bills in draft. Specifically
in response to the issues that the Committee raised:
The time Provided for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny
The Government agrees on the importance of allowing
as much time as possible for pre-legislative scrutiny, with a
minimum of twelve weeks as an objective. The two draft bills published
so far this session were both published to allow twelve weeks.
The Government will continue to strive to allow the maximum time
available for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Leader of the House
of Commons routinely reminds departments of this timescale and
we do all we can to prevent slippage. When slippage does sometimes
occur, the Leader keeps the Liaison Committee and the Lord Chairman
of Committees informed and departments liaise with relevant Commons
select committees and Lords committee officials to discuss an
acceptable publication timetable.
There have recently been delays in establishing joint
committees to consider draft bills. Though the Government does
all it can to minimise these delays, the Committee will appreciate
that this is not something which lies exclusively within the Government's
control.
"Bunching" of publication of draft bills
The Government believes that timing considerations
mean that draft Bills cannot always be spaced as evenly throughout
the year as either the Government or Parliament would like. We
will continue to work to improve processes to ensure that the
spread can be as even as possible. Of the five remaining draft
bills this session, our original intention was to publish two
bills at Easter, two before the summer and one during the spillover,
so spacing them out during the session. Due to the need for further
consultation, the two bills due to be published before the summer
both have had to be delayed until after recess.
Government liaison with Committees
The Government recognises the value that the House
of Lords can bring to pre-legislative scrutiny. Whilst in most
cases, pre-legislative scrutiny is undertaken by Commons departmental
Select Committees, in several cases recently, there has been interest
both from Commons departmental Select Committees and from the
Lords. Where there are significant expressions of interest from
the House of Lords we would not envisage meeting a request from
a Commons select committee to undertake sole consideration of
a bill and we will continue to seek Lords participation in pre-legislative
scrutiny.
The Leader of the House of Commons has written to
the Commons Liaison Committee several times this Session to update
them on progress with the publication of draft Bills. These letters
have been copied to me and to the Lord Chairman of Committees.
I will be happy to ensure in future that they are also sent to
the Lords Liaison Committee.
The fate of draft bills after Pre-legislative Scrutiny
The Government believes that it has a good record
for introducing draft bills. Of the nine Bills published in draft
in the 2007-08 session, the following five of them have been included
in the current session:
- the Draft Apprenticeships Bill was taken
forward as part of this session's Apprenticeships, Skills, Children
and Learning Bill;
- the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has
just been introduced to Parliament as the Constitutional Reform
and Governance Bill;
- the Draft Construction Contracts Bill included
in this session's Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction
Bill (not as the Committee's report stated as part of the draft
Community Empowerment Bill);
- part of the draft (partial) Immigration
and Citizenship Bill was included in this session's Borders, Citizenship
and Immigration Bill and;
- the draft Marine Bill was taken forward
as this session's Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
Of the remaining four draft Bills published last
session, the draft Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Bill
was intended to be introduced to Parliament only if the need arose.
Of the remaining three bills, Cultural Property, Heritage Protection
and Marine Navigation and Port Safety, it became clear that there
would be insufficient space in the current session to take all
those bills to Royal Assent. The Government remains fully committed
to all of these measures and will introduce them as soon as parliamentary
time allows.
Of the two draft bills published so far this session,
both have been included in the Government's Draft Legislative
Programme for the next session even though, as noted above, it
will be particularly short.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Leader of the House
of Lords
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