Merits Committee begins scrutiny of Public Bodies Orders
27 January 2012
The Public Bodies Act 2011 gives Ministers the power by order to abolish, merge or modify a number of public bodies and offices originally established in primary legislation. The use of this power by Ministers is subject to a new scrutiny procedure set out in the Act. The House of Lords has agreed that the Merits Committee should be charged with examining draft orders before they are put to the House for approval.
For information the Committee has produced a Special Report, setting out the relevant tests in the Public Bodies Act and how the Committee intends to approach its new scrutiny role.
Details on each of the public bodies orders as it is laid, including the scrutiny progress of each item will be available on a dedicated page. The first Order, the Draft Public Bodies (Abolition of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) Order 2012, has been laid and will be considered on 31 January.