Department for Exiting the European Union written question – answered at on 1 March 2018.
Lord Boswell of Aynho
Chair, European Union Committee, Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, Chair, European Union Committee
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each government department, from July to December 2017, on how many occasions the Scrutiny Reserve Resolution was overridden in (1) the House of Lords, and (2) the House of Commons; and in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses, (b) the House of Lords, and (c) the House of Commons.
Lord Callanan
Minister of State (Department for Exiting the European Union)
Between July and December 2017, 508 EU proposals and other documents were submitted for scrutiny.
Across both Houses there were 95 occasions when the Government supported decisions in the EU Council of Ministers before the scrutiny procedures had been completed by either one or both Scrutiny Committees.
In each case the Government explained to the Scrutiny Committees why it was important for the proposal to be supported before clearance had been provided. This period of reporting coincided with the extended period in the new Parliament before the European Scrutiny Committee in the House of Commons was re-appointed on 30 October 2017 and only began meeting again on 13 November to scrutinise documents. As with previous six-monthly periods, the largest category of instrument was fast-moving and sensitive CFSP and EU restrictive measures where there were 66 such instruments adopted before scrutiny could be completed.
The figures requested are set out below:
Department | (1 & b). House of Lords override | (2 & c). House of Commons override | (a). No. of overrides in both Houses at the same time | Total no. of overrides |
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 |
Defence | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 52 | 70 | 51 | 71 |
International Development | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
International Trade | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
HM Revenue and Customs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
HM Treasury | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Work and Pensions | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals | 63 | 94 | 62 | 95 |
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
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The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
An informal reference to the Council of the European Union.
