Opportunities, Tools and Timelines - Richard Ward

Influencing Legislation: Opportunities, Tools and Timelines:

Influencing Legislation: Opportunities, Tools and Timelines

The Legislative Process (recap):

Strictly speaking , the Parliamentary stages Pre-legislative scrutiny (optional) Commons stages First reading, second reading, committee (PBC/CWH), report, third Reading Lords stages As above, except for difference over committee stage Ping pong? Royal assent The Legislative Process (recap)

Opportunities:

Influencing the stage before legislation (see previous presentation) Pre-legislative committee either a select committee or ad-hoc Joint Committee Briefing for second reading, evidence for Public Bill Committee (but not the Chair!) Failing that, repeat the process in the Lords (Don’t forget the Government) Campaigning outside of Parliament Opportunities

Tools:

Letters ‘Informal briefing’ Formal submissions of evidence Meetings Avoid ‘template’ letters and mass communication Specific, targeted communication works best Tools

Top tips for written evidence:

Short (couple of pages) Summarise if necessary Specific to the Bill – refer to clauses and consequences Don’t regurgitate old material Think about the brief-writer rather than the Members Guidance available online www.parliament.uk/committee-witness-guide Top tips for written evidence

Timelines:

Up to introduction = months/years Between 1R and 2R = weeks Between 2R and Committee = weeks Between Committee and Report = days Between Report and 3R = minutes? Between Commons and Lords = weeks Timelines

Example: the Education Bill:

First reading = 26 January Second reading = 8 February PBC began = 1 March PBC concludes = Easter Example: the Education Bill

What’s happening now?:

Committee is debating clauses and amendments Amendments can only be tabled by Members of Parliament , subject to very strict rules However, it is perfectly proper to write to a Member and suggest an amendment Member can then receive advice from Clerks on wording &c. Amendments can be ‘probing’ (i.e. intended to draw out Government’s position) What’s happening now?

Key differences between select committees and PBCs:

Chair is largely procedural – selects amendments, calls speakers, keeps discussion on topic, but has very little “real” power General presumption that the Committee will make progress, but no strict rules on how quickly PBCs are definitely “political”, whereas select committees are frequently independent of Opposition or Government Key differences between select committees and PBCs