Written question asked by Richard Shepherd (Conservative) on Thursday, 12 March 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 (named day). It was answered by Oliver Letwin (Conservative) on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Legislative Drafting

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Acts of Parliament in the present Parliament included a power for Ministers to make supplementary and incidental provision by secondary legislation for the purpose of giving full effect to the Act or for similar purposes; and if he will make arrangements to restrict instances of those powers to cases where they can be justified by urgency or other factors preventing the Bill for the Act from dealing fully with consequential and incidental matters.

Answer: The United Kingdom has an extensive statute book, which extends back hundreds of years, so Government Bills often need make provision against the background of this complex legislative landscape. Powers to make supplementary and incidental provision by secondary legislation are often needed to ensure that an Act produces the result intended by Parliament.

Secondary information