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<p>The then Leader of the House of Commons responded to the Committee's report on
26 January 2018. In her response she committed to asking officials to consider carefully
where the Committee's recommendations can be factored into our processes.</p><p><br>The
Committee made two recommendations that the Government cannot support, relating to
consultations and a legislative standards committee. First, on consultations, the
Government agrees that timelines for consultations should be proportionate and realistic
to allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response. However, within
these parameters, consultation lengths should be adaptable to the complexity of policy
and legislative. Second, on a legislative standards committee, the Government is committed
to bringing forward well-drafted legislation of the highest quality but does not believe
a legislative standards committee would add to this process.The PBL Committee already
serves as a strict gatekeeper to legislation being introduced to Parliament. Furthermore,
it is generally not possible to separate views on the standards of a bill from views
on the appropriateness of the underlying policy, for which the bill stages in each
House already provide the appropriate forum for debate and scrutiny. The Committee’s
remaining four recommendations continue to be useful to Government and, as the then
Leader of the House of Commons said in her response, are being factored into our processes
as appropriate.</p>
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