Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted in Part
Require ministers to explain reasons for breaching 'Parliament first' principle at earliest opportunity.
Recommendation
Where an exceptional circumstance does arise and a major policy is announced first elsewhere, a minister must, as a sign of respect towards Parliament, make a statement to the House at the earliest opportunity, which would include the reasons for breaching the general principle. (Recommendation, Paragraph 44) Practice during this Parliament
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts, committing to ensuring announcement details are made available to the House at the earliest appropriate opportunity when exceptions arise. However, it does not explicitly commit to including reasons for breaching the general principle in such statements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
12. The Government partially accepts this recommendation. As the Committee has recognised, it is not always possible to notify the House of the most important announcements first. For example, there are occasions when developments or announcements will occur when the House is not sitting, or will develop later in the day and the events or context change. By convention, oral statements are also avoided where possible on Opposition days, and it is generally not appropriate to make planned oral statements at certain times - for example, during the debate on the King’s Speech. However, on such occasions the Government remains committed to ensuring that the details of announcements are made available to the House at the earliest appropriate opportunity.
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