Government response to the Committee's report on the European Union (Future Relationship) Bill

This is the government's response, published 19 March 2021.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response explains the provisional application of the agreements and states that the powers in the Act should not be time-limited, while saying the nature of parliamentary scrutiny of the new relationship is "for Parliament to decide".

• On why provisional application was not sought in the UK, the government says the agreements have been provisionally applied from 23:00 (GMT) on 31 December 2020, and that legislation was "necessary" under the UK's dualist system.
• On sunset provisions, the government says it is "important that these powers are not time-limited", citing the efficient and smooth running of the relationship on an ongoing basis.
• On post-legislative scrutiny, the government says it is "committed to facilitating parliamentary scrutiny" and will "work with Parliament", and that Schedule 5 to the Act sets out procedures for scrutiny of secondary legislation.
• On the Committee's intention to return to the Bill's constitutional implications, the government says it "will respond to future reports from the Committee in the usual way".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error