§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister for the Civil Service what arrangements are in force for informing the public of the issue of draft Statutory Instruments requiring the approval of Parliament; and if there are any arrangements to ensure a minimum time between any such notifications and relevant motions being taken in the House of Commons.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisDepartments are not under any formal obligation to notify the public of the issue of draft Statutory Instruments requiring the approval of Parliament. They do, however, frequently issue Press notices about such instruments, and often give notice of them to organisations particularly affected. In addition, most draft instruments are published when they have been laid; that is, they are put on sale by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, and appear in the daily list of Government publications. In general, I think that Departments are well aware of the need to keep the public informed of impending subordinate legislation.
323WThere is no requirement, either by statute or in the Standing Orders of the House, for a particular period to elapse between the laying of a draft affirmative instrument and the taking of the motion to approve it. All such instruments are, however, subject to scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments or House of Commons Select Committee on Statutory Instruments, and a considerable proportion are referred to Standing Committees.