Pre-legislative scrutiny under the Coalition Government: 2010-2015

The Library Standard Note on Pre-legislative scrutiny (SN/PC/2822) provides a brief background to the development of pre-legislative scrutiny under the 1997-2010 Labour Governments. It also reviews the procedures followed in allocating draft bills to committees and by the committees in examining draft bills. It provides summary details of the draft bills published between 1997 and 2010 and their subsequent progress. It also reviews some of the analysis of pre-legislative scrutiny that has taken place.

This Briefing Paper takes as its starting point the formation of the Coalition Government in May 2010 and reviews both the commitments it gave on pre-legislative scrutiny and the draft bills it published. However, it also includes a table from the previous note, which gives details of the number of draft bills published each session, since 1997-98.

In total, 35 draft bills or substantial sets of clauses (excluding draft Finance Bills) were published by the Government in the 2010 Parliament. In the three Parliaments between 1997 and 2010, 75 draft bills or substantial sets of clauses were published: 17 in the 1997 Parliament; 33 in the 2001 Parliament; and 25 in the 2005 Parliament.

This Briefing Paper provides summary details of the draft bills announced or published between May 2010 and March 2015, when the 2010 Parliament was dissolved.