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Introduction to working with OPC on a Bill Project

This section deals in more detail with working with an OPC team on a Bill project (whether it is a Bill for presentation or initially only a draft Bill for publication as part of a consultation exercise).

What follows assumes that the department will have established a “departmental team” with different officials carrying out the roles of—

• policy officials - the officials led by one or more “policy leads” who advise Ministers on the policy that is being implemented (in whole or in part) by the Bill;
• Bill team officials - the officials usually led by the “Bill team manager”¹³ who are responsible for the planning, administration and implementation of the project that will result in the Bill or draft Bill (or of the wider project of which the Bill forms a part); and
• departmental lawyers - the officials who give legal advice to both policy officials and Bill team officials and who are responsible for producing the drafting instructions for Counsel in OPC.
  

In the case of a small Bill, at least two of these roles may overlap in the same individual. Sometimes, in the case of a big Bill, the department may also think it sensible to set up an “implementation team” before the Bill has completed its passage through Parliament. Sometimes the Bill team will co-ordinate the work of everyone working on the Bill in the department; often it is convenient for a department also to ask a particular lawyer to co-ordinate the work of all the lawyers working on the team.

Furthermore, the subject-matter of a Bill will occasionally require more than one department to provide the policy officials, and they will be supported by departmental lawyers from the different departments. In those circumstances, even where the subject matter of the Bill is evenly split, it is usual and helpful for one department to take the lead when it comes to planning the Bill, and for the Bill team manager and his or her team to be appointed with the need for cross departmental working particularly in mind.

If instructions on a particular topic are to come from outside the department with primary responsibility for the Bill eg for provisions relating to Wales or for just a small number of clauses, it is important to ensure that there are clear arrangements about the channels of communication with OPC, and that the OPC team is aware of what they are.

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13. It is important that every Bill project has an official in the department who fulfils the role of project manager for the Bill. In the past this role was often played by the lead lawyer on the Bill but it is now very common (except for small Bills) for the department to appoint an official who is neither a lawyer nor one of the policy officials interested in the Bill to run the project, and then to give that official a team. It is important for a close working relationship to be built between the Bill team manager and the OPC team on the Bill. The earlier a bill team manager is appointed the better the project is likely to run.