A guide to Westminster

Legislation stems from an extensive process of inspiration, deliberation and reformation before it arrives on the statute book. Understanding how this process develops and where and when to feed into it forms a crucial part of making politics and government work for you.

Developing Ideas  

Formal consultation  

With vast pressures from internal party political values, external special interest groups and departmental operational requirements, there is never a shortage of ideas for legislative change, but these will often be of a very general nature. Extensive consultation with relevant interest groups allows policy thoughts to be formulated and prioritised into the legislative timetable.

Government will generally attempt to take forward a policy consultation in as inclusive a fashion as possible. No government enjoys bad press and by including all parties from the start, potential pitfalls may be negotiated away. Proper consultation limits the amount of redrafting and amendment to legislation within parliament, increasing the time available to bring forward the legislative programme as a whole.

Green and white papers

Formal consultation may progress in a range of ways, generally in the form of a Green or White Paper, setting out proposals for reform. Clearly, it is important to be involved at the informal stage to aid the formal process to address the right issues. Briefly, a green paper notes that policy thoughts are being bounced around Whitehall and asks for further thought from the wider world, presenting a possible range of options that have been considered. A White Paper is rather more developed, effectively a considered statement of policy made available for comment prior to a bill being drafted.

Modernisers have made considerable attempts to open up consultation to the public. But obviously this needs to be a two-way process. Unless one keeps an active watch on what the government is working on, one cannot offer comment. Keeping involved over the long term allows one to be identified as part of the relevant public. (The Government’s definition of “public” with regard to public consultation is often closer to what sticklers for correct usage of the English language would refer to as private.)

The Whitehall machinery

At the end of a consultation period, responses will go back into the Whitehall machinery to be mulled over by a range of departmental, cabinet and policy committees. This can result in draft legislation being drawn up, regulations being issued under existing legislation, industry working groups being set up for further investigation or occasionally, given the nature of government, nothing.

The catchword of the age is joined-up government. Any department with an interest will want to be represented on policy committees. This will certainly include the treasury, another catchword being prudence. If an idea is to have legs, it must also have a well-considered fiscal base.

Regardless of the government in power there is obviously a necessity for long-term policy development to continue through parliaments. Long-term policies are broad in scope and take many years fully develop. Cross-departmental co-operation and communication is often necessary for a new programme to be effectively implemented and maintained. Therefore, for the outside interest group, it is vital to have a good working knowledge of which departments will be working on a relevant policy and the individuals and units concerned.

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