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Securing a slot in the Legislative Programme

Is a legislative slot necessary?

5.1 Before seeking a slot in the Government's legislative programme, departments should consider whether primary legislation is necessary. Parliamentary time is limited and departments should always consider whether the ends they wish to achieve could be reached by purely administrative means. If it is certain that legislation is required, departments should consider whether secondary legislation or a Legislative Reform Order could be used before embarking on primary legislation. Guidance on secondary legislation can be found at Statutory Instrument Practice [External website] (departmental Parliamentary Branches/legal advisors should also hold copies) and guidance on LROs [External website] is available.

Preparation of the legislative programme and submitting a bid for legislation

5.2 The content of the Government's legislative programme in future sessions is decided by Cabinet, on the basis of proposals from Legislation Committee.  Where legislation extends to Scotland, remember that separate legal advice in respect of Scots Law is given by the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland (OSAG) and not your in-house departmental lawyer. In turn, OSAG instructs Scottish Parliamentary Counsel (UK). (Please also ensure that in appropriate cases an OSAG contact is referred to at section 7.2.).

5.3 Each year, the chair of Legislation Committee asks departments to put forward bids for legislation for the following session. The timetable for agreeing the legislative programme can vary from year to year, particularly in an election year, but bids will usually be sought over a year before the start of the session in question (an example of this timetable is shown below).

5.4 So that Legislation Committee has all the information it needs to assess the relative priority of bids, bids should be submitted using the template provided by Legislation Secretariat, which covers issues such as devolution, human rights, financial cost and regulatory and other impacts.

5.5 Bids should be submitted by the deadline requested, so that Legislation Committee and Cabinet have a complete overview of all the likely requests for legislation on which to base their decisions about the programme. Even where details are still sketchy it is far better to submit a bid on time than to submit a bid later in the session, as accommodating a Bill at that stage may well require another Bill to be dropped.

5.6 Departments need to have systems in place to ensure that all likely bids are captured in the annual bidding round.

5.7 Departments should consider whether Law Commission recommendations accepted by Government could be included in their bid as a standalone measure or part of a larger Bill.

Example timetable for preparing and finalising the legislative programme

5.8 In order to assist departments with forward planning, as part of the annual bidding round the Leader of the House of Commons will also ask departments to indicate which Bills might need to be brought forward in the next session but one, and will normally recommend that a handful of slots be provisionally allocated in this way.

Criteria for assessing bids

5.9 There are always more bids for legislation than there are places in the programme. Legislation Committee assesses the relative priority of each bid against criteria set out by the Chair of the Committee. These factors would normally include:

• Whether legislation is necessary. Legislation Committee will want to satisfy itself that the proposal cannot be implemented using another means, such as Secondary Legislation or a Legislative Reform Order. Alternative vehicles should be considered before making a Bill bid and if in doubt departments should seek advice from the Better Regulation Executive in BIS or from Legislation Secretariat.
• Political content and urgency of the proposed Bills. Some may have a political priority (manifesto commitments etc); others may be essential (for example, to meet international obligations);
• How far advanced work is on the Bill and how well prepared the Bill is likely to be. Significant progress in agreeing the policy content of the Bill would normally be expected;
• Whether the Bill has previously been published in draft for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny. While publication in draft does not guarantee a place in the following year's programme, it is a factor that Legislation Committee will look on favourably.

5.10 Some bids for legislation originate from recommendations of the Law Commission. Following a Law Commission report, it is the responsibility of the relevant Government department to decide whether to accept all or some of them, and to bid for any necessary legislation. When bidding for legislation, departments should make clear whether the Bill implements Law Commission recommendations and whether it is suitable for the special Parliamentary procedure for Law Commission Bills.

5.11 If it is politically important, a Bill may be given a slot in the programme before many of the details have been fully worked out. If this is the case, the Minister should submit a bid with a clear statement of what the Bill is expected to contain and indicating the timetable for remaining stages of policy development. Legislation Committee can then consider whether there is room for the Bill in the programme and if it would be feasible to prepare a Bill in the time available. Legislation Committee will award such Bills a slot in the programme only if it is confident that the remaining details could be worked out and the Bill prepared in good time for introduction, including sufficient time for public consultation where appropriate.

5.12 Major changes in the content and the scope of such a Bill may not be possible after an initial place in the programme has been allocated. Legislation Secretariat will monitor closely the development of these proposals.

5.13 When a department bids for more than one Bill, it should rank them in order of priority – and as well as the need to legislate should consider the workload on Ministers and officials if they are involved in more than one Bill at once. The Government Whips' Offices, the Minister's Private Office and the departmental Parliamentary Branch can help develop a reasonable assessment of the difficulties involved and the time required. Where the proposals are short and uncontroversial, departments should consider whether the Bills would be suitable for the “handout” route where a Bill is given to a Private Member who has been successful in the ballot for Private Members' Bills, held at the start of each Session.

Bidding outside of the annual bidding round

5.14 While every effort should be made to submit bids for legislation during the annual bidding round, urgent requirements for legislation can emerge at any time. In this case, the Minister should write to the chair of Legislation Committee to make a bid, completing the templates used by other departments in the annual bidding round and providing as much information as possible about the proposed legislation.

5.15 Any late bids should be made as soon as the need for legislation emerges, as other Bills already awarded a slot may have to be dropped to accommodate the new priority. If Legislation Committee awards the late bid a slot for the following session, work on the Bill will need to start immediately if it is to be got ready for the start of the session.

Emergency legislation

5.16 Only in emergencies will Legislation Committee accept new bids for legislation after the session has started. Where emergency legislation is required, a bid may not need to be submitted, but departments should contact Legislation Secretariat for advice in the first instance.

Announcing an intention to legislate

5.17 Subject to policy clearance, a department may announce a general intention to legislate in a particular area, but may not announce an intention to legislate in a particular session or to a specified timescale, unless:

• The Bill has been announced in the Draft Legislative Programme, the Queen's Speech or the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Leader of the House of Commons shortly after the Queen's speech (which includes those Bills planned but not mentioned in the Queen's speech)
• They have obtained the agreement of Legislation Committee in the normal manner (i.e. by writing to the Chair of Legislation Committee copied to all members of the Committee and with a deadline for any comments, after which the Chair will respond to the request indicating their decision)

Requirements for Royal Assent

5.18 Departments should ensure that any absolute deadlines for Royal Assent are flagged in their bids for legislation. Such requests should only be made where they are absolutely necessary, for instance, where the Government is legally vulnerable if it does not implement legislation by a certain date, the Government has already made a public commitment to implement the proposals by a given date, or any delay beyond this date would result in significant costs. The more Bills which require early Royal Assent, the less flexibility Business Managers have in timetabling the programme. Desire for an early Royal Assent date simply to demonstrate political commitment or achieve early implementation will not normally be accommodated.

5.19 While Business Managers will make best endeavours to meet any absolute deadlines for Royal Assent, no guarantees can be given as this will depend on the progress of the Bill through Parliament.