The Legislative Process

The process by which legislation is enacted can take many forms with different types of Bills and varying scrutiny procedures. This introduction will focus only on the most common process. The Westminster Parliament has the power to enact legislation on all matters provided that they are not devolved to the regional legislatures. Parliament’s task in enacting legislation involves debating and scrutinising proposed Bills. This is followed by a vote that determines whether a Bill becomes law as an Act of Parliament. The large government majorities usually yielded by the British electoral system mean that most government introduced Bills will make it onto the statute book.

Parliamentary Bills can originate from a variety of sources: the government, the opposition, the Law Commission and individual members of parliament. However, the most common form is a Public Bill of which most are issued by the government. There is an ‘anonymous empire’ of external groups that try to influence the content of legislation in the form of lobbyists, pressure groups and organisations representing various sectional interests. The best opportunity to influence the content of a Bill is before it comes before Parliament.

The Legislative Process for Public Bills:

a) Preparation

At this stage the parliamentary draftsmen at the Treasury have to draft legislation that will give effect to a measure the government has decided to implement. This means to put the measure into legal language that will accomplish, when enacted, what the Bill sets out to do.

b) Pre-legislative scrutiny: Select Committees

Before a Bill is presented to parliament the government will often make public a draft of the bill for discussion. Increasingly select committees are set up to scrutinise draft bills and these have the power to call witnesses and consider written evidence. The Joint Committee on Human Rights may also scrutinise a draft Bill to see whether it is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998.

c) First Reading

This is the formal introduction of the Bill to Parliament were a date is set for the second reading.

d) Second Reading

This is the first in-depth stage of parliamentary scrutiny. The relevant Minister will introduce the Bill and defend its proposals from the opposition if necessary. Generally the debate is confined to matters of principle rather than detail. This reading is followed by a vote. If the vote is lost the Bill must be abandoned or reintroduced at a later date. If the vote is won then the Bill passes to the committee stage

e) Committee Stage

There are various formats along which a standing committee can be convened - but in each the party political composition of the house is reflected. At this stage the Bill will be scrutinised clause by clause and amendments can be suggested. Standing committees cannot call in specialist witnesses or documents consequently a well-briefed minister will usually be better informed than the committee members. This disparity of information combined with (usually) a government majority on the committee means there is little chance of making amendments that run counter to the governments’ plans.

f) Report Stage

The Bill is reported back to the House of Commons with its amendments. Further amendments can be made at this stage, however, such changes are supposed to only arise if an issue has not been raised previously.

g) Third Reading

At this stage the Bill cannot be amended beyond rectifying small errors. After this the Bill goes on for scrutiny in the Lords.

h) House of Lords

The process of legislative scrutiny in the Lords goes through the same stages as that in the Commons (first and second readings, committee stage, report and third reading). Legislative scrutiny in the House of Lords is restrained by the lack of a complete electoral mandate as not all members are elected. Consequently the Lords cannot reject a Bill, but only delay it for up to two years. This limit to their power is set out by the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949. The power to delay legislation does give the Lords some leverage over the government. The government may enter into negotiations with the Lords in order to secure the passage of a Bill within a parliamentary session . Amendments in the Lords can also include making amendments that have been promised by the government in the Commons in order to secure the passage of Bill, or changes that have come about due to the government re-thinking an issue. The Lords also undertakes a lot of technical scrutiny that tries to ensure that the way a Bill is drafted will in fact allow it to do what it proposes to do.

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