Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 34
34
Paragraph: 167
Given the Government’s stated objective of improving parliamentary scrutiny of the Electoral Commission, we recommend...
Recommendation
Given the Government’s stated objective of improving parliamentary scrutiny of the Electoral Commission, we recommend the application of the ‘super-affirmative procedure’ for approval of the Statement, to ensure that parliamentarians have the formal opportunity to feed into and make recommendations on the draft Statement before it is laid for approval (via the ‘affirmative’ parliamentary approval procedure). We consider this additional scrutiny step is necessary and proportionate given the novelty and importance of the Statement.
Paragraph Reference:
167
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
As outlined by the then Minister for the Constitution and Devolution in evidence to the Committee on 14 September 2021, the Government considers that the affirmative resolution procedure will provide both Houses of Parliament with appropriate and meaningful opportunities to debate and scrutinise the Strategy and Policy Statement before determining whether to approve or reject the resolution in full. The Government remains firmly committed to ensuring that parliamentary time is made available for these debates. The length of the debates in each House will be determined closer to the time following the procedural conventions in each House and will reflect the importance of giving parliamentarians a meaningful chance to air their views about the Government’s proposal before it is submitted to their approval. Further, to support parliamentary scrutiny during those debates, the Government also provided an illustrative example of the Strategy and Policy Statement which parliamentarians will be able to use to supplement their views.