BREXIT: Procedure Committee Calls For Further Scrutiny On Delegated Legislation After General Election

The House of Commons Procedure Committee has recommended that its successor committee should act swiftly to scrutinise details of legislation on the UK's exit from the EU.

In an end-of-session report published before the dissolution of parliament on 3 May, the committee said its inquiry into the government's proposals for the legislation had been "prematurely curtailed" due to the general election in June.

It said questions still needed to be answered on how the government will strike a balance between effective scrutiny of delegated legislation and the need to ensure the UK's statute book is ready for the country's departure from the EU in 2019.

The committee recommended that its successor should examine "as a matter of urgency" the implications for the House of Commons' procedures on the government's proposals to end the surpremacy of EU law whilst at the same time translating the body of EU law into UK based law. .

It added that it was vital that new Commons select committees with an interest in handling delegated legislation should be established as quickly as possible in the new parliament

"Those committees should be part of the 'meaningful discussion' the government envisages," said the committee's report. "Without the full participation of such committees, the government will struggle to achieve agreement on an approach to scrutiny of secondary legislation which will command widespread support."

The committees involved include the Procedure Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Committee on Exiting the European Union.

The government published a 'white paper' in March setting out a three-point plan for converting EU law into UK law when Brexit takes effect [PM2] The bill's passage will run alongside the UK's negotiations with the EU and any other legislation associated with Brexit, and will take effect on the day the UK leaves the EU. Once it becomes law, the government needs to produce secondary legislation to amend laws which will not work "appropriately"...