§ Mr. Ramsdenasked the Lord President of the Council if he is now able to indicate the Government's views on the Report made by the Joint Committee on Delegated Legislation.
§ Mr. PriorThe Government have decided to recommend to Parliament the acceptance of the two principal proposals made by the Joint Committee on Delegated Legislation. These are for the establishment of a Joint Scrutiny Committee of both Houses of Parliament to check the technical propriety of statutory instruments, and of a Standing Committee of the House of Commons to consider the "merits" of statutory instruments referred to them by the House.
It is hoped that the establishment of these two new Parliamentary Committees will avoid the present duplication of functions between the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments in the House of Commons and the Special Orders Committee of the House of Lords, and provide better opportunities for debating statutory instruments in the House of Commons.
The Government's detailed proposals with regard to the scope of these Committees, and the procedure for referring statutory instruments to them, will be embodied in resolutions which will be brought before both Houses of Parliament, as appropriate, as soon as possible.