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Pre-legislative Scrutiny

My Lords, it is not that I do not have answers to these questions; it is that every time I start to read out my brief, noble Lords intervene. I am quite happy to carry on in this very entertaining way. I have often thought that rather than having staid, officially written responses to Questions for Short Debate, it would be much better to have this kind of discussion. That is particularly so when it comes to such an important matter as how we can improve the job that we are here to do, particularly in your Lordships’ House, which is to get better scrutiny of legislation. I will not read through the list, but there are clearly substantive reasons why the Government would consider that it is not appropriate to have pre-legislative scrutiny for some Bills. Clearly, some Bills have external time constraints. The noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, referred to the emergency Bills that we have recently debated in your Lordships’ House. There may be other Bills that are implementing policies following a review and extensive consultation. Where that has occurred, there may be some hesitation in also having pre-legislative scrutiny, due to time factors and the fact that it would cover ground that had already been extensively covered in a consultation. There are time pressures in the government timetable. I have had experience of dealing with many Bills in different government departments. While of course it is important that there should be sufficient time for pre-legislative scrutiny, proper drafting and proper consultation, the reality of government is that, with the best will in the world, sometimes there is not the time. Sometimes Governments have to make decisions that lead to legislation for which it is simply not possible or practical to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny. There will be some occasions where publishing Bills in draft may not add greatly to the knowledge of the proposed legislation. Some short Bills, for example, may legislate for the implementation of international agreements.