English Votes for English Laws Standing Orders

Wednesday 26th October 2016 Written Statements

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Lidington)]

Today I am launching a scheduled technical review of the current English Votes for English Laws Standing Orders.

The previous Leader of the House of Commons committed to a review of the Standing Orders 12 months after their introduction and I am now honouring that pledge.

In October 2015, English Votes for English Laws was introduced to address the West Lothian question. It provides for the consent of English (or English and Welsh) MPs to legislation that solely applies to England (or England and Wales), while maintaining the important principle that MPs from all parts of the UK should continue to be able to deliberate and vote on all legislation before the House.

There will be a consultation period to inform the review which will come to a close on 2 December 2016, with publication of the outcomes of the review due later this session. The review will be available online only. Details of the review can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-votes-for-english-laws-review.

The terms of reference for the review are outlined below:

The impact of the Standing Orders on the legislative process.

The operation of the certification test.

Any suggestions for how the process could be further improved, or how understanding of the process could be further supported.

[HCWS219]