UNCLASSIFIED Using the Public Bodies Act 2011 A Guidance and Best Practice Note for Officials September 2013 UNCLASSIFIED 1 UNCLASSIFIED Contents Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 3 1.1: History of the Public Bodies Act and reform programme ................................................... 3 1.2: What can you use the Public Bodies Act to do? ................................................................ 3 1.3: Why use the Public Bodies Act? ........................................................................................ 3 1.4: Overview of process and indicative timings ....................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Policy Development .................................................................................................... 6 2.1: Is your proposal developed? ............................................................................................. 6 2.2: Is the proposal within the limitations in the Public Bodies Act 2011?................................. 6 2.3: Roles and responsibilities relating to orders ...................................................................... 7 Chapter 3: Consultation ............................................................................................................... 9 3.1: Government Consultation Principles ................................................................................. 9 3.2: The consultation requirement in the Public Bodies Act. ..................................................... 9 3.3: Parliamentary scrutiny of the consultation requirements. ................................................ 11 3.4: What should the consultation include? ............................................................................ 11 3.5: Meaningful consultation ................................................................................................... 13 3.6: Consultation with the devolved administrations ............................................................... 13 3.7: Clearance and publication ............................................................................................... 14 3.8: Dealing with responses and further consultation ............................................................. 15 3.9: Consultation process: checklist ....................................................................................... 16 Chapter 4: Parliamentary Scrutiny: Section A: Preparing to Lay the Order and Related Documents ................................................................................................................................. 17 4.1: The order - Subject headings and titles ........................................................................... 17 4.2: The importance of the Explanatory Document ................................................................ 17 4.3: Drafting the Explanatory Document ................................................................................. 18 4.4: The impact assessment ................................................................................................... 21 4.5: Securing parliamentary time ............................................................................................ 21 4.6: Clearances ...................................................................................................................... 21 4.7: Procedure for laying an order and Explanatory Document in the UK Parliament ............ 23 Section B: Devolved Administration Scrutiny ............................................................................. 25 4.8: Procedure with devolved administrations ........................................................................ 25 4.9: Preparing to lay a Draft Order and related documents: Checklist .................................... 27 Chapter 5: Parliamentary Scrutiny: Post Laying Process ........................................................... 28 5.1: The scrutiny process for Public Bodies Orders ................................................................ 28 5.2: The enhanced scrutiny processes: 40 days or 60 days? ................................................. 28 5.3: Working with committees and responding to committee reports ..................................... 29 5.4: Parliamentary debate and approval ................................................................................. 29 5.5: Flow Chart: Developing & laying a statutory instrument under the Public Bodies Act ..... 31 Annex A: Contact Details and Reports ....................................................................................... 32 Annex B: Best Practice Principles (from the Experience of MoJ) ............................................... 34 Annex C: Devolved Administration Consent Requirements ....................................................... 38 Annex D: Model Preamble ......................................................................................................... 40 Annex E: Example Explanatory Document Laid Under the Public Bodies Act 2011 .................. 41 UNCLASSIFIED 2 UNCLASSIFIED Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1: History of the Public Bodies Act and reform programme The Public Bodies Act received Royal Assent on 14 December 2011. The Act is an enabling Act, which gives Ministers powers to abolish, merge, modify constitutional or funding arrangements, or modify or transfer functions of public bodies through secondary legislation. The bodies subject to the Act are listed in five schedules which correspond to the powers in the Act (for example schedule 1 lists the bodies subject to the power to abolish in section 1, and so on). For those bodies listed in the schedules at Royal Assent, the entry is valid for a period of five years plus two months from Royal Assent. Entries to the schedules by later primary legislation will be valid for a period of five years from the day upon which that entry is commenced. The Public Bodies Act was designed as a legislative vehicle to take forward changes from the Coalition Government’s 2010 review of public bodies, and to provide a mechanism to make further changes to such bodies as necessary following future reviews. It is possible to add further bodies to the Act’s schedules using primary legislation, or to reflect the Act’s provisions in departments’ own bills, modified to the specific reform of a public body (for example, the Protection of Freedoms Bill). 1.2: What can you use the Public Bodies Act to do? The Public Bodies Act can be used to make a wide range of changes to those public bodies with a statutory basis listed in the schedules. These include NDPBs, Non-Ministerial Departments, and public corporations. An order under the Act can: abolish a body and transfer some or all of its functions to an eligible person (section 1) merge a group of bodies, and transfer some or all of their functions to the merged body or another eligible person (section 2) modify the constitutional arrangements or a body or office (section 3) modify the funding arrangements of a body or office (with the consent of HM Treasury) (section 4) modify the functions of a body - including the abolition of functions, the creation of new functions, or the transfer of some functions to an eligible person (section 5) make consequential provision in relation to an order made under sections 1-5 (with the consent of HM Treasury where consequential provision includes the modification of funding arrangements) (section 6). The Public Bodies Act cannot be used to: create a new public body (except as a result of a merger under section 2) make changes to non-statutory bodies, such as executive agencies make changes to a body which is not listed in the relevant schedule of the Act make an order which does not relate to public bodies; it does not provide general order- making powers along the lines of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. 1.3: Why use the Public Bodies Act? The Public Bodies Act may be a suitable vehicle where your proposed reform does not fit within an upcoming piece of primary legislation. It is also a suitable mechanism where a department UNCLASSIFIED 3 UNCLASSIFIED wishes to make a series of changes to its public bodies, or wishes to create a vehicle for future changes following a period of review or consultation, for example. However the procedure attached to the Act itself requires significant resource and planning. If your proposed reform is particularly controversial or complex, you may wish to consider whether it would be more effectively delivered through a primary legislative vehicle. 1.4: Overview of process and indicative timings The time required to make an order under the Public Bodies Act depends on a variety of factors, including the readiness of the policy, the completion of consultation, and the degree of scrutiny which Parliament selects for the proposal. The process chart below sets out the main stages involved in making an order. • Identifying proposed reform • Identifying Public Bodies Act as preferred vehicle policy • Securing legislative vehicle to add body to Public Bodies Act's schedule (if required) development • Drafting order and consultation document, and obtaining Cabinet Committee clearance for publication (Parly Counsel will generally request 12 weeks to clear a draft order) • Engage with the appropriate devolved administration as necessary • Consultation compliant with section 10 of Act (there must be a