Lords point to ways to improve legislation

Changes should be made to the way that legislation is developed to enable thorough parliamentary scrutiny and improve the quality of laws on the statute book, the House of Lords Constitution Committee states in a report published today.

In the report, the first as part of its ongoing inquiry into the legislative process, the committee focuses on the preparation of legislation before it enters Parliament. The committee say that better policy preparation will result in better legislation and a stronger and more accessible legal system.

It believes that the Government should routinely publish the evidence base for legislative proposals and that, if a robust evidence base is not available, the Government should explain why it is nevertheless appropriate to proceed.

Piloting the application of policy is another important way of developing effective policies over time, and the Government should develop guidance for departments setting out when piloting is appropriate or desirable.

Further, the Government should publish draft bills for pre-legislative scrutiny more frequently and this should become a regular feature of the legislative process.

The committee also comments that legislation should be made more accessible and easier to understand, for practitioners and the public, and that consolidation is urgently needed in several areas of the law (e.g. immigration law).

Baroness Taylor of Bolton, chairman of the committee, commented: “Improving the quality of legislation is in everybody’s interest. We call on the Government to publish draft bills and policy evidence as a regular part of the legislative process to facilitate better scrutiny."

Click here to view the committee's report.