Parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit
In her speech last week, Theresa May confirmed that Parliament would have a vote on the final Brexit deal. But that is years ahead and Parliament is very much concerned with scrutiny of the Brexit process in the here and now.
As 2017 in Parliament gets underway, House of Commons Select Committee business is dominated by the topic. And that's not just the Exiting the European Union Committee chaired by Hilary Benn. The Environmental Audit Committee started the ball rolling for 2017 by calling for a new Environmental Protection Act to maintain environmental standards. The Justice Committee questioned criminal law experts on the implications of Brexit for criminal justice on 10 January, the day after Parliament returned from its Christmas holidays. One day later, the Education Committee was a Pembroke College, Oxford to hold a hearing on the impact of exiting the European Union on higher education. A week after that the Work and Pensions Committee held a one-off session on the impact of Brexit on the UK labour market.
There is even more activity in the House of Lords, which has always devoted a great deal of time to scrutiny of European legislation. The inquiry launched last week by the Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee on Brexit: Agriculture is just one example. Significantly, the House of Lords Liaison Committee has set up a Brexit Liaison Group to work with Hilary Benn to co-ordinate their work on scrutiny of the Brexit process. It has already met three times and will meet again in early February.
Parliament's scrutiny will ramp up even further once negotiations begin. So watch this space!
In her speech last week, Theresa May confirmed that Parliament would have a vote on the final Brexit deal. But that is years ahead and Parliament is very much concerned with scrutiny of the Brexit process in the here and now.
As 2017 in Parliament gets underway, House of Commons Select Committee business is dominated by the topic. And that's not just the Exiting the European Union Committee chaired by Hilary Benn. The Environmental Audit Committee started the ball rolling for 2017 by calling for a new Environmental Protection Act to maintain environmental standards. The Justice Committee questioned criminal law experts on the implications of Brexit for criminal justice on 10 January, the day after Parliament returned from its Christmas holidays. One day later, the Education Committee was a Pembroke College, Oxford to hold a hearing on the impact of exiting the European Union on higher education. A week after that the Work and Pensions Committee held a one-off session on the impact of Brexit on the UK labour market.
There is even more activity in the House of Lords, which has always devoted a great deal of time to scrutiny of European legislation. The inquiry launched last week by the Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee on Brexit: Agriculture is just one example. Significantly, the House of Lords Liaison Committee has set up a Brexit Liaison Group to work with Hilary Benn to co-ordinate their work on scrutiny of the Brexit process. It has already met three times and will meet again in early February.
Parliament's scrutiny will ramp up even further once negotiations begin. So watch this space!
