§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will list the number of statutory instruments produced each Session since 1954, the number subject to affirmative approval, the number subject to annulment and, of those, the number prayed against, and the number of hours for which such instruments were debated in each year.
§ Mr. BiffenThe following information is available: The number of statutory instruments, both general and local (printed and unprinted), in each year since 1954 is as follows:
167W
Year Number of statutory instruments 1954 1,764 1955 2,007 1956 2,122
Year Number of statutory instruments 1957 2,250 1958 2,280 1959 2,342 1960 2,495 1961 2,514 1962 2,877 1963 2,157 1964 2,102 1965 2,201 1966 1,641 1967 1,976 1968 2,079 1969 1,902 1970 2,044 1971 2,178 1972 2,075 1973 2,236 1974 2,227 1975 2,251 1976 2,248 1977 2,201 1978 1,978 1979 1,770 1980 2,051 1981 1,892 1982 1,900 1983 1,965 The number of affirmative and negative instruments considered by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments form 1966–67 to 1971–72 (to 6 July 1972) and then considered by the Joint and Select Committees from 1972–73 to 1974 are as follows:
Session Affirmative Negative 1966–67 71 363 1967–68 102 663 1968–69 82 488 1969–70 58 381 1970–71 151 765 1971–72 79 449 1972–73 94 368 1973–74 40 381 1974* 75 433 * The delegated legislation return which has been laid before the House each Session since 1974–75 records the number of instruments subject to affirmative approval and the number subject to annulment which were considered by the Joint and Select Committees on Statutory Instruments. Copies of each annual return are held in the Library. Details for Session 1953–54 to 1965–66 and the number of instruments prayed against could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The following table shows the time for which instruments were debated in each year.
168W
Session Affirmative Resolution Negative Resolution Days Hours Minutes Days Hours Minutes 1953–54 4.72 — — 1.57 — — 1954–55 4.39 — — 0.16 — — 1955–56 3.52 — — — — — 1956–57 2.23 — — 0.93 — — 1957–58 2.65 — — 1.53 — — 1958–59 7.25 — — 1.08 — — 1959–60 3.92 — — 3.64 — — 1960–61 — 36 45 — 25 30 1961–62 — 51 15 — 12 45 1962–63 — 27 15 — 15 00 1963–64 — 33 45 — 29 30 1964–65 — 42 30 — 17 00 1965–66 — 44 15 — 11 45
Session Affirmative Resolution Negative Resolution Days Hours Minutes Days Hours Minutes 1966–67 — 98 56 — 43 32 1967–68 — 65 29 — 37 59 1968–69 — 53 59 — 22 55 1969–70 — 46 51 — 10 33 1970–71 — 81 11 — 23 37 1971–72 — 72 10 — 8 57 1972–73 — 79 10 — 10 29 1973–74 — 25 09 — 7 05 1974 — 34 06 — 4 26 1974–75 — 96 49 — 10 45 1975–76 — 96 20 — 14 07 1976–77 — 74 49 — 7 26 1977–78 — 82 45 — 9 53 1978–79 — 49 37 — 4 24 1979–80 — 143 59 — 16 16 1980–81 — 89 06 — 19 41 1981–82 — 108 00 — 35 48 1982–83 — 81 29 — 16 05