College Public Policy

Posted by Verity O’Keefe on 28 June 2010

Speaking on parliamentary reform, Sir George Young has announced that a new ‘public reading stage’ for bills will be introduced, allowing the public the opportunity to comment on proposed legislation online. In addition, a dedicated ‘public reading day’ will be introduced within a bill’s committee stage, where those comments will be debated by the committee scrutinising the bill. Plans for these reforms are to be set out in greater detail before the summer recess.

The idea behind the proposal for a ‘public reading stage’ is to allow the Government to seek “better engagement with the public during the legislative process.” To put it simply-a piece of potential legislation is put online and we all get to comment and debate on it. Like any consultation there is always the danger that politicians will cherry pick and use contributions to endorse their own views. However, like the Downing Street online petition, now and again these reforms can make a real difference. Road charging was killed off for years largely but a well supported online petition.

College Public Policy wishes the public reading stage well but will scrutinise its effectiveness in terms of opening up Parliament.

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