Lords to question Cabinet Office and Treasury officials on quality of delegated powers memoranda
The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (DPRRC) will take evidence tomorrow (Thursday 19 June) and next week (Wednesday 25 June) from First Parliamentary Counsel and the Treasury Solicitor as part of a short inquiry into the quality of delegated powers memoranda.
Delegated powers memoranda are provided by the Government to the Committee to explain and justify any delegation of powers to Ministers contained in Government bills. They are made available to the Committee when a bill is introduced into the Lords and assist the Committee in its important work of scrutinising delegations of power. The DPRRC has on several occasions recently been critical of the quality of memoranda.
The details of the evidence sessions are:
10:00am Thursday 19 June Committee Room 3A of the House of Lords:
- Evidence to be heard from Richard Heaton, First Parliamentary Counsel and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office.
10:30am Wednesday 25 June Committee Room 2A of the House of Lords:
- Evidence to be heard from Jonathan Jones, Treasury Solicitor
Areas the Committee will cover include:
- What is the purpose of delegated powers memoranda? Does it go beyond simply assisting the DPRRC?
- Could the guidance provided to government departments on drafting delegated powers memoranda be improved?
- How do the Government respond to comments made by the Committee in their reports on the quality of particular memoranda? How does the Government ensure mistakes are not repeated?
- What quality assurance mechanisms are in place or should be in place?
- Should Parliamentary Counsel sign-off all delegated powers memoranda before they are published?
- How will the Government's proposal to charge the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Secretariat in the Cabinet Office with responsibility for disseminating best practice with regard to delegated powers memoranda and liaising with the DPRRC be implemented?
