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Last updated: 01 February 2010
10.1 The 2007-08 session was the first for which the Government published its proposals for the legislative programme in draft in advance of the Queen's Speech. The first Draft Legislative Programme was published in July 2007 for debate and discussion; it included one or two pages on the key benefits and background information on each Bill in the provisional programme, setting out how each Bill reflected the Government's priorities.
10.2 In May 2008 the Government published a second Draft Legislative Programme for the 2008-09 session. The second Draft Legislative Programme was published earlier in the year, to allow more time for discussion and debate at an earlier stage of Bill development. It also included details of planned non-legislative measures, as a reminder that legislation is not the only way to achieve Government objectives and that many changes do not require primary legislation. Bills were grouped by overarching themes to show how they reflected the Government's overall priorities. In June 2009, the Government published a third Draft Legislative Programme for the 2009-2010 session as part of 'Building Britain's Future', a broader document outlining the Government's plans and priorities.
10.3 It is expected that the Government will continue to publish a Draft Legislative Programme in advance of future sessions. Publishing a Draft Legislative Programme encourages departments to engage more closely with stakeholders during preparation of the Bill, and is likely to aid Bill preparation by highlighting possible areas of difficulty at an earlier stage when there is still time to think through alternative options carefully.
10.4 It also increases the pressure on the department to ensure that the Bill is ready on time, as there will be a public expectation that Bills announced in the Draft Legislative Programme will be brought forward after the Queen's Speech. Legislation Committee will therefore seek assurances from Bill Ministers that Bill preparation is progressing well and that the Bill can be expected to be ready for introduction at the start of the session, before agreeing to include a Bill in the Draft Legislative Programme.
10.5 Whereas previously there would not normally have been a public commitment to legislate until the Queen's Speech itself, now the Draft Legislative Programme will normally be the first public commitment to bring a particular Bill forward. This means departments will need to seek collective agreement for the policy proposed in the Bill earlier than they might have done in previous years – as only proposals that have been collectively agreed may be included in the Draft Legislative Programme. Bill teams must build this into their delivery plan.
10.6 Consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme is not a substitute for departmental consultation on the detail of individual proposals, which may be taking place in parallel with that on the Draft Legislative Programme, or may already have been completed; the Draft Legislative Programme acts as a ‘gateway’ to departmental consultations on individual Bills, allowing those consultations to reach wider audiences and giving members of the public an opportunity to reflect and comment on the Government’s programme as a whole. Conversely the Draft Legislative Programme will not reopen departmental consultations on the detail of individual proposals that have already closed – it will make clear which issues are still to be decided and where decisions have already been taken.
10.7 Bill teams will be asked to contribute a short description of their proposed Bill and its benefits for inclusion in the Draft Legislative Programme, and to provide background briefing about their Bill prior to publication of the Draft Legislative Programme. Departments will be asked to publicise the Draft Legislative Programme on their websites and to draw it to the attention of their wider stakeholders. There are likely to be statements and debates in Parliament, as well as deliberative events with members of the public and key stakeholders across the country.
10.8 Bill teams should ensure that departmental press offices are ready to handle any inquiries as a result of the Bill being announced in the Draft Legislative Programme.
10.9 Bill teams should keep a record of all comments received about their Bill during the consultation period on the draft legislation programme, as they will be asked to contribute to a summary of responses to be published alongside the Queen's Speech. Legislation Secretariat will liaise with other officials in the department on non-legislative measures to be included in the Draft Legislative Programme.
10.10 The Draft Legislative Programme is a draft programme and by the time of the Queen's Speech some Bills are likely to have moved in or out of the programme for a variety of reasons. Inclusion in the Draft Legislative Programme does not guarantee a place in the following session, as other higher priorities may emerge in the meantime. In its response to the consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme the Government will set out how the programme has changed, in terms of Bills added to or removed from the programme as well as changes to the proposals for individual Bills. In the run-up to the Queen's Speech Bill teams will need to provide Legislation Secretariat with a list of changes made to the Bill as a result of consultation, if any.
10.11 For the practical reason that legislation takes time to prepare it is unlikely that substantive new proposals arising from consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme will be able to be incorporated in the programme for that session, but Legislation Committee will expect that when Ministers bid for legislation for the following session they will have considered proposals arising from consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme.