Lords discusses scrutiny of regulations
7 November 2017
Members of the House of Lords discussed the government's introduction of three separate sets of regulations and a report from the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee on Monday 6 November.
- Catch up on Parliament TV
- Read the Lords Hansard transcript
- 2nd report of the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (PDF)
- What is a statutory instrument?
- What is a parliamentary motion?
Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour) proposed a motion to regret that the government introduced three regulations without sufficient assessment of their effectiveness and value for money.
His motion also noted a report from the Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which scrutinises regulations, questioning 'the seriousness with which the Government view the process of scrutiny of secondary legislation'.
Following the debate in the House of Lords chamber, the motion was withdrawn.
If agreed, this motion would not have stopped the regulations, all of which came into force in June 2017, but would have provided an opportunity for the House to put on record its regret that the government failed to provide sufficient assessment of the process involved and to note the committee report findings.
How do these regulations become law?
- Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (external site)
- Information about People with Significant Control (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (external site)
- Scottish Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control) Regulations 2017 (external site)
These regulations were subject to the negative procedure, meaning that they would not normally be debated unless a member objects by putting down a motion. All three regulations came into force in June 2017.