News & Insights

The Week in Parliament

We’ve had a couple of Westminster-heavy weeks recently, so as there was little of immediate concern in the Commons or the Lords (except the lack of consultation on the proposed new protest-control powers, which we wrote about here and are investigating further), let’s take a tour of the devolved administrations this time.

Northern Ireland

The issue of abortion in Northern Ireland has a long and complicated history, with strong views on both sides. During the absence of the NI Executive, due to political disagreements between 2017 and 2020, the Westminster Government passed legislation that first decriminalised abortion in Northern Ireland and subsequently approved regulations specifically providing for abortion there. Naturally, the outcry was immediate and fierce. This week, the Assembly took up the issue itself with a debate on a Private Members Bill, the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill.

In this debate, much of the talk revolved around the lack of consultation on the proposed legislation. Consultation on Private Members Bills is not something we’ve ever really looked at before, partially because so few Private Members Bills ultimately amount to anything in terms of coming into force, and partially because the consultations on them tend to be more limited exercises than those on public bills, the proposers not having all the resources of the Government to draw on.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, consultation on PMBs is a requirement- though in Scotland there is provision for instead submitting a statement of reasons for why the sponsor doesn’t believe consultation is necessary. In Wales, though there is no requirement there is a ‘strong recommendation’ for consultation. Westminster remains entirely silent on the matter.

The explanatory notes for the Bill under consideration in the Assembly do acknowledge the lack of consultation, but point to the Northern Ireland Office’s consultation on the new regulations promulgated during the Executive’s absence, as well as to a debate on those regulations in the restored Assembly.

It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between process arguments and substance arguments, and emotive issues such as this make it even more complicated- it can hardly be incidental that at the start of the debate the Speaker of the Assembly reiterated the importance of all views being heard, and the debate being confined to the specific issues under debate. In this case, on this subject, it does seem somewhat curious that the bill was not consulted upon. Controversial issues are, though they are often difficult for consultors to handle, some of those most amenable to consultation, in order to make sure that the right balance is struck. It will be interesting to see how this debate plays out.

Scotland

In Scotland, some interesting debate on the recently opened Scottish Government Consultation on pardons for miners convicted for offences during the 1984-85 miners’ strike. The primary question in the Chamber was about how the Scottish Government is going to ensure that the consultation reaches the right people. The Government’s plans at the moment seem to primarily be using contacts with the National Union of Mineworkers to reach interested parties, though they also accepted a suggestion from Members to contact relevant community councils in former mining constituencies. It will be interesting to see what range of responses they get- although it is understandable to use these approaches, questions might be asked about whether they have adequately sought out a range of views. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, and we’ll certainly look at the responses when they are published.

Wales

Temporary changes were under consideration in the Welsh Senedd, though of a different nature to the temporary traffic and road changes that we have become so familiar with over the last few months. These are temporary changes to health services. Health service change is tied up intricately with, not only consultation, but public involvement, and with one member highlighting a closure in her region of a local surgery to be used as a covid-treatment space, it is hardly surprising that assurances are being sought of the temporary nature of changes. We are aware of other temporary changes being made across the NHS in all jurisdictions, and are keeping a close eye on the situation. In Wales, the First Minister was at pains to guarantee that any temporary changes being carried over will be consulted upon and properly understood, whilst preserving the knowledge that the pandemic has provided us.

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