Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Deferred
Paragraph: 134
Review additional resources required for effective scrutiny of international agreements in Commons.
Recommendation
Effective scrutiny of international agreements requires both policy expertise and expertise in international agreements and law. We recommend that a review is carried out to consider whether and what additional resource is required to support effective scrutiny of international agreements in the House of Commons.
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees but deflects the recommendation for a review of parliamentary resources, stating that how Parliament chooses to scrutinise treaties and whether to introduce new functions is a matter for Parliament itself.
Paragraph Reference:
134
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Partially agree. The Government agrees that a core function of Parliament is to hold the Government to account, including in relation to treaties. The Government recognises that departmental Select Committees have subject matter expertise that they may wish to apply to the assessment and scrutiny of treaties signed by their respective Government departments. However, the Government does not agree with the Committee’s recommendations that would require Parliament to approve treaties and notes that how Parliament chooses to hold Government to account and carry out its statutory responsibilities for treaty scrutiny are matters for Parliament. The Government welcomes any efforts to ensure the UK has an efficient, sustainable process of scrutiny to support transparency and accountability in its treaty making. It will continue to engage with any committee tasked with scrutinising treaties in a constructive way. The Government has welcomed the scrutiny efforts provided by the IAC in the House of Lords, which provides a valuable scanning function. It is a matter for the House of Commons whether to introduce a similar function. Government Response 13