DeHavilland Senior Policy Consultant Hattie Ireland last week sat down with Arran Russell, Head of Content at DeHavilland to share insights into the legislative process following the recent King’s Speech. This is a summary of the key takeaways from the event, which you can listen to the recording of here.
With the starting gun pulled on the Conservative’s final year in control of the legislative agenda ahead of a general election, their success in the two chambers will be necessary to show they can still be entrusted to lead the country.
Given the last State Opening of Parliament was 18 months ago, it was a worthwhile exercise to brush up on the intricate details that make up the UK legislative system.
The focus on infrastructure legislation, largely by the Johnson Government, has meant DeHavilland has followed several bills live from start to end through Parliament, namely the Building Safety Act, Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act and the seemingly never-ending Levelling Up and Regeneration Act.
Hattie and Arran explained the different stages of the legislative process from pre-legislative scrutiny to Second Reading to ping pong and the differences in systems between both Houses, where the Lords have more influence or time compared to the Commons and where the Commons have the last say.
They also drew on the invaluable insights of two previous event speakers, Liam Lawrence Smyth, who is a Clerk of legislation in the Commons and Daniel Greenberg, who at the time was a legislative lawyer and adviser to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. Both previously shared their thoughts on how public affairs professionals can engage with the process, and where and how input from stakeholders can be most effective.
But the process does not stop once Royal Assent is granted. Arran discussed delegated legislation, highlighting that most of the heavy lifting is done through secondary legislation, where commencement orders and delegated powers explain the real changes.
If you weren’t put off by an hour of primary legislation, Hattie and Arran would be happy to host a more in-depth session on secondary legislation – just get in touch!
