Lords put Westminster lawmaking under the spotlight
How Westminster legislation is prepared by Government and scrutinised by Parliament is to be the subject of a year-long review by an influential House of Lords committee.
The Constitution Committee has launched a new inquiry into the legislative process and is asking for evidence to inform its work.
It marks a return by the committee to the subject of its highly influential 2004 report, Parliament and the Legislative Process. Recommendations in that report which were subsequently introduced included a proposal that the Government should review all legislation five years after it is introduced, and also a greater role for Parliament in pre-legislative scrutiny.
As part of its inquiry the committee will look at how outside organisations and the public are involved in the process and how their role can be developed, including possible uses of new technology. The committee will also consider the possible impact of the UK withdrawing from the EU on the legislative process.
The review will be divided into four stages:
- preparing legislation for introduction to Parliament;
- the passage of legislation through Parliament;
- the delegation of power; and
- once legislation receives royal assent.
The committee is currently asking for written evidence on stage 1, which should be received via the committee’s website by Sunday 16 October. Further calls for evidence will be issued for the later stages as the committee’s work progresses.
Questions to be discussed include:
- How effective are current arrangements for delivering clear, coherent, effective and accessible draft legislation?
- Are there improvements that could be made to deliver better and more understandable laws?
- What impact will Brexit have on the volume and type of legislation Parliament considers? What changes will this require from Government and Parliament?
- How could new technologies be deployed to support the development of legislation and allow better consultation?
Committee chair Lord Lang of Monkton commented: “How legislation is created and scrutinised is of vital importance. We need to ensure that bills reach Parliament in the best shape possible so the Parliament’s limited time is not wasted on tidying up poor drafting or correcting ill-thought-out policy. It is increasingly being said that our laws are becoming too long, too complicated and that there are too many of them.
“The public and those affected by changes to the law increasingly expect to have a direct input into how those laws are made. We are interested to know how this can be facilitated, how their input can be most effectively used, and whether new technologies offer opportunities to improve that process.
“We will also consider the impact of Brexit on lawmaking in the UK. Parliament will have to scrutinise numerous changes to the law when the UK leaves the EU, and will, in future, be required to scrutinise more legislation covering areas where laws are currently made in Brussels. We need to ensure that we have the processes in place to manage those challenges, and that the implications of Brexit for the legislative process are properly thought through.”