20.05.13
New standards published to improve legislation
The Government must comply with new standards for good legislation, the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has urged.
The committee considered criticisms of the quality and quantity of legislation, and has published a draft code of legislative standards. It recommends the creation of a joint legislative standards committee to provide oversight to ensure the standards are met and calls for Government to adopt an agreed test to identify legislation and improve parliament’s scrutiny.
Graham Allen MP, chair of the Committee said: “Within this inquiry the Committee has considered what we, as parliamentarians, can do to improve legislation. It is important not to lose sight of the fact that poor quality legislation is not simply a problem for Parliament, but can be the cause of problems for our constituents.
“We are grateful to the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and National Assembly for Wales for their submissions. They have adapted the Westminster model in order to improve the quality of their legislation; it is now the turn of Westminster to look at their processes and adapt them for use here.”
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