Parliament is back after the Easter break, as am I, and we’re both eagerly awaiting the upcoming session. With a Queen’s Speech due in May, time is ticking on the clock of this Parliamentary session, so let’s see what we can get done in the next month…

Westminster

Accusations were flying in the Lords this week that the Government have been ‘front running’ consultations to prevent effective parliamentary scrutiny. The argument arose during a robust debate on the new Financial Services Bill, in which peers expressed concern about the role of the legislature in oversight. The specific concern arose around the number of times the Government is saying it cannot discuss matters because they are currently subject to consultation.

It is of course a safe position to take that certain things under consultation should not be discussed, one of the most common consultation challenges is allegations of pre-determination after all. The accusation that the Government may be planning consultations specifically to evade having to answer questions about often controversial issues is however new.

Whether there is any truth to it or not, it does raise interesting points about the relationship between parliamentary scrutiny and consultation. Both represent key checks on the executive’s power and the idea that one could be used to defeat the other is deeply disconcerting. We are all aware of course of situations where suggestions that consultation is being preferred to give the impression of activity, where in reality there is no plan to act- could this new allegation become another thing we need to watch out for? We’ll keep an eye on it.

Northern Ireland

Some interesting discussion in Northern Ireland on Tuesday regarding some of the many healthcare consultations currently either underway or being planned. What made them especially interesting was that many of them seem to be being amended or written specifically to take account of problems highlighted by the COVID-19 crisis.

We have seen other consultations already taking account of this, and we would expect to see many more. Healthcare particularly is an area where (naturally) a proliferation should be expected as public bodies try to take account of lessons learned and how best to be prepared for any recurrence.

In addition to these ‘lessons learned’ exercises, there will also likely be an increase in volumes of consultations dealing with peripheral impacts of the pandemic. In the Assembly, the minister announced that he intends to launch a consultation specifically looking at a cancer recovery plan in light of the increased backlog created by the pandemic.

It will be interesting to see how many of the other administrations follow suit- although the pandemic has necessarily been the primary focus up until this point, it has both created and exacerbated many other underlying issues which will need heading off at the pass to ensure a second crisis does not emerge across many different sectors.

Fairly short this week as the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments are both out for their elections (other than a brief unscheduled return to commemorate HRH the Duke of Edinburgh).