The UK Post-Legislative Scrutiny Gap

Post-legislative scrutiny is defined as ‘a broad form of review, the purpose of which is to address the effects of legislation in terms of whether intended policy objectives have been met by the legislation and, if so, how effectively’ (Law Commission, 2006). It is undertaken in both Houses of the UK Parliament and in the last decade a more systematic approach has developed, particularly in the House of Commons. This approach requires UK Government departments to submit post-legislative memoranda (reviewing the operation of an Act) to the relevant departmental select committees in the House of Commons, three-five years after an Act has entered the statute books. Select committees then have option to undertake additional scrutiny of that Act. However, it is now 10 years on from the introduction of that systematic approach and research has shown that it is yet to become a regular part of the oversight work of committees, at least from the perspective of published reports. Additionally, while there are patterns emerging of certain committees engaging with post-legislative scrutiny, many do not (at least in terms of holding an inquiry). This paper will begin by analysing the limited amount of post-legislative scrutiny that has taken place to date in the House of Commons and what specifically committees have and have not been doing. The paper will then go on to analyse which government departments have been producing post-legislative memoranda and whether these memoranda are being picked up by departmental select committees. In so doing the paper will also analyse which committees have not, so far, been undertaking post-legislative scrutiny and explore some of the reasons for why they have not engaged in this particular piece of oversight activity. This research forms part of a broader study into post-legislative scrutiny in the UK Parliament, assessing; how it can be undertaken; how the formal processes have been carried out and with what frequency and what the experience has been of parliamentary committees undertaking it.