Lords examines secondary legislation
13 July 2020
The House of Lords examined three statutory instruments (SIs), the regulations, orders or rules, used to fill in the details of Acts of Parliament, on Friday 10 July.
The proposed SIs make changes to laws on:
- powers at UK ports and the Northern Ireland border to stop people suspected of being involved in terrorist activity, and guidance on the retention of biometric data
- recordings of detainee interviews in Northern Ireland under the Terrorism Act 2000, which in future would have to be made on video with sound
- restricting the supply of single-use plastic straws, plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic drink stirrers, to prevent environmental pollution and protect the health of humans and animals.
- View full list of SIs
- Catch up on Parliament TV: part one and part two
- Read the transcript in Lords Hansard
- Statutory instruments tracker (beta)
- What is a statutory instrument?
- Statutory instruments procedure in the House of Lords
These SIs are made under the draft affirmative procedure, meaning they need to be approved by Parliament before they can be made (signed into law) and brought into effect as law. Draft affirmative SIs can be stopped if either House votes against the government's motion calling for the SI to be approved.
Following debates by members all the SIs under consideration were agreed to.
Lords scrutiny
The House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) examines every SI. It publishes reports drawing members' attention to SIs.
The committee reported on two of the SIs which make changes to border controls and the supply of single-use plastics.
- SLSC 19th Report of Session 2019-21 (PDF) (border controls)
- SLSC 16th Report of Session 2019-21 (PDF) (single-use plastics)
Further information
- Follow @ukhouseoflords on Twitter
- Like House of Lords on Facebook
- Watch House of Lords videos on YouTube
- View House of Lords images on Flickr
- Connect with members on the Lords Digital Chamber
Image: Flickr