Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Second Special - Parliamentary Scrutiny of International Agreements in the 21st century: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of session 2023-24
Published 18 April 2024
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee The Scrutiny of International Treaties and other international agreements in the 21st century Report on parliament.uk ↗
At a glance
The government's response
This document responds to Second Report - Parliamentary Scrutiny of International Agreements in the 21st century.
This is the government's response, published 18 April 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government partially agrees with some conclusions but does not accept that the existing framework for treaty scrutiny is insufficient, and disagrees with the recommendation that Parliament must approve all treaties.
- On the recommended active approval process, the government says it "does not accept" that Parliament requires further powers and that Part 2 of CRaG "strikes the appropriate balance", so "no legislative changes are required".
- It disagrees with a central repository for non-legally binding instruments, calling it "impractical", but says it "will update its published guidance to encourage consistency and transparency".
- It accepts the recommendation to keep providing an explanatory memorandum alongside treaties laid under CRaG, and says it will keep the information provided "in review".
- On negotiating mandates, it says a working practices agreement is "neither necessary nor appropriate", though it remains "committed to the principles of transparency and positive engagement" while retaining discretion over information shared.
What the committee recommended
This is a government response document, so it has no recommendations of its own.