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Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament House of Commons Procedure Committee Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament Seventh Report of Session 2016–17 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Order by the House of Commons to be printed 26 April 2017 HC 1091 Published on 2 May 2017 by authority of the House of Commons Procedure Committee The Procedure Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of public business, and to make recommendations. Current membership Mr Charles Walker MP (Conservative, Broxbourne) (Chair) Bob Blackman MP (Conservative, Harrow East) Jenny Chapman MP (Labour, Darlington) Mr Christopher Chope MP (Conservative, Christchurch) Nic Dakin MP (Labour, Scunthorpe) James Duddridge MP (Conservative, Rochford and Southend East) Chris Elmore MP (Labour, Ogmore) Yvonne Fovargue MP (Labour, Makerfield) Patricia Gibson MP (Scottish National Party, North Ayrshire and Arran) Helen Goodman MP (Labour, Bishop Auckland) Patrick Grady MP (Scottish National Party, Glasgow North) Sir Edward Leigh MP (Conservative, Gainsborough) Huw Merriman MP (Conservative, Bexhill and Battle) Mr David Nuttall MP (Conservative, Bury North) Melanie Onn MP (Labour, Great Grimsby) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No. 147. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/proccom and in print by Order of the House. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Martyn Atkins (Clerk), Leoni Kurt (Second Clerk), Jim Lawford (Committee Assistant), and Alasdair Rendall (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Procedure Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3351; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament 1 Contents Summary 3 Sitting hours of the House 4 1 Unfinished business from the 2015 Parliament 5 Proposals for a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ 5 Next steps 8 Revision of Standing Orders 9 Scrutiny of the Government’s Supply Estimates 10 2 Matters which the new Committee may wish to take up 11 English votes for English laws 11 Sitting hours 11 Term limits for chairs of select committees 12 Conclusions and recommendations 15 Formal minutes 17 Evidence taken in the Committee’s inquiry into Delegated powers and the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ 18 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 20 Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament 3 Summary The resolution of the House in favour of an early General Election has curtailed the work programme of the Procedure Committee for the 2015 Parliament. In this report we set out the main items of business on the Committee’s agenda which remain unfinished, and indicate some matters which the Committee in the 2017 Parliament may wish to take up once it is established. Proposals for a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ Our inquiry into the Government’s proposals for legislation to provide for the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) has been prematurely curtailed. We had expected to report on the Government’s proposals by the end of the 2016–17 Session, and to undertake substantive scrutiny of the Bill delivering the Government’s proposals early in the new Session. Our terms of reference, augmented following the publication of the Government’s White Paper on legislating for the UK’s exit from the EU, identified a number of issues relevant to the House’s procedures on delegated legislation which need to be addressed before any Bill is enacted. We have reported to the House and published all the oral and written evidence taken in the inquiry to date. The Committee in the new Parliament ought to examine the implications of the Government’s proposals for the House’s procedures on delegated legislation. The Government has indicated that it is open to a discussion with Parliament on how to achieve a balance between the need for scrutiny of delegated legislation in this area and the need for speed in preparing the statute book for the point of exit. We recognise that the time of Members ought to be directed to examining legislation which is politically or legally important: arguably, the existing procedures for scrutinising secondary legislation do not properly provide for this. If the Government does want to proceed swiftly with a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ in the new Parliament, it ought to arrange for select committees with a direct interest in the matter—including the Procedure Committee— to be established as soon as possible after the House has reassembled: otherwise the Government will struggle to find agreement on an approach to the handling of delegated legislation under the Bill which will command widespread support. Revision of Standing Orders The Committee in the new Parliament may wish to take forward the work on Standing Order revision first proposed by the Committee in the 2010 Parliament. The task has been made more complex by the introduction of the English votes for English laws Standing Orders during this Parliament. Scrutiny of the Government’s Supply Estimates In this Parliament we embarked on a programme of work to examine the House’s procedures on financial matters. The Government is expected to respond to our first report in this field—on better practical scrutiny of the annual Estimates—in the new Parliament. The new Committee may wish to take up the other elements of the programme identified in that report, such as arrangements for scrutiny of the Government’s multi-annual Spending Reviews. 4 Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament English votes for English laws We have published two reports on the new procedures to achieve ‘English votes for English laws’. In both cases we stated our intention to keep these procedures under active review. The new Committee may therefore wish to review the operation of these procedures in the new Parliament. Sitting hours of the House Our predecessors in 2012 surveyed the House elected in 2010 to ascertain Members’ views on sitting hours, and sponsored a debate, and a series of motions for decision, which enabled that House to take a decision on the hours it wished to sit. We undertook a similar survey in 2016 and have recently published the results. We have recommended that the new Committee survey the 2017 House in the summer of 2018 and sponsor a debate to allow that House to determine its own sitting hours. Term limits for select committee chairs The resolution on an early general election has thrown up an uncertainty over the operation of the Standing Order governing the limits to terms served by chairs of select committees. While the matter cannot be resolved before chairs are elected in the new Parliament, we nevertheless recommend that the new Committee examine the issue as a matter of urgency. Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2017 Parliament 5 1 Unfinished business from the 2015 Parliament 1. On Tuesday 18 April the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP, announced that the Cabinet had agreed to seek an early general election, to be held on Thursday 8 June. On Wednesday 19 April the House resolved, by the necessary two-thirds majority, that there should be an early General Election. Parliament will be dissolved on Wednesday 3 May, in accordance with the provisions of section 3(1) of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. 2. The dissolution of Parliament has naturally truncated the Committee’s work programme for the 2015 Parliament. We set out below matters where there is active or unfinished business which we recommend that the Committee to be established in the 2017 Parliament should examine. Proposals for a ‘Great Repeal Bill’ 3. The proposal for a ‘Great Repeal Bill’, to terminate the operation of the European Communities Act 1972 and, in its place, to provide a legal basis for the continued application of EU regulations and directives in the UK, pending revision or repeal, was first announced by the Prime Minister on 2 October 2016, during the Conservative Party Conference. 4. We thought it likely that this Bill would have significant implications for the House’s procedures for considering secondary legislation, particularly secondary legislation which, under delegated powers which the Government would claim in the Bill, would amend existing primary and secondary legislation—for instance, existing legislation which transposed the provisions of EU directives into UK law. 5. On 2 February 2017 we announced an inquiry and invited submissions to address any or all of the following terms of reference: • The adequacy of the present procedure for scrutiny of secondary legislation, and potential approaches for sifting the potential volume of legislation to be incorporated • The changes (if any) desirable to Commons procedures related to the delegation of powers or secondary legislation to address the likely scale and volume of ‘Great Repeal Bill’ legislation • The powers likely to be necessary or justified in primary legislation to incorporate the existing body of EU legislation (the acquis communautaire or acquis) into domestic law upon repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA), including (but not necessarily limited to): Ȥ powers to ensure the continuation in UK law of the legal order in force upon repeal of the ECA, with only such amendments as are necessary to ensure that the law applicable in the
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