Inquiry into the Quality of delegated powers memoranda

One of the principal purposes of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee is to report whether the provisions of any bill inappropriately delegate legislative power or whether they subject the exercise of legislative power to an inappropriate degree of parliamentary scrutiny. To assist it in its work, the Government provide a delegated powers memorandum on each Government bill which identifies provisions for delegated legislation in the bill, and explain the procedure selected and why it has been chosen. Given the importance of delegated powers memoranda to the Committee’s scrutiny of bills, the Committee has decided to undertake a short inquiry into how delegated powers memoranda are prepared and quality assured, and what can be done to ensure that an acceptable standard of memorandum is achieved and maintained.