Committee publication · Correspondence · 23 April 2025
Correspondence from the Permanent Secretary regarding post-legislative scrutiny, dated 10 April 2025
Summary
Dame Tamara Finkelstein, Defra Permanent Secretary, sets out a delivery timetable for post-legislative scrutiny memoranda on seven primary acts passed in the last decade. The department will submit scrutiny memoranda between December 2025 and May 2029, adjusted for implementation delays. Three acts (Wild Animals in Circuses 2019, Kew Gardens 2019, Direct Payments 2020) are deemed too limited in scope to warrant scrutiny.
Key findings
- Ivory Act 2018 memorandum due December 2025, timed from June 2022 implementation rather than Royal Assent due to judicial review delay
- Agriculture Act 2020 and Fisheries Act 2020 memoranda due November 2025 and Spring 2026 respectively; Fisheries scrutiny will synchronise with required Joint Fisheries Statement reporting
- Environment Act 2021 memorandum expected in 2026, ahead of November deadline; Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 by April 2027
- Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 scrutiny deferred to late 2028–2030 pending full commencement in late 2025
- Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024 memorandum due May 2029; three acts deemed disproportionate to scrutinise due to limited scope or lapsed significance
Tone
ProceduralTopics
parliamentary-scrutinyprimary-legislationagricultureanimal-welfareenvironment
Key actors
Dame Tamara Finkelstein, Alistair Carmichael MP, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Environmental Audit Committee
Notable line
“Post legislative scrutiny typically takes place three to five years after Royal Assent of an act of Parliament, when the responsible department must submit a memorandum to the relevant Commons select committee.”
Key Quotes
“Defra recognises that post legislative scrutiny promotes the delivery of meaningful and effective legislation.”
“To allow an effective assessment to be made of how the Act is working in practice, post legislative scrutiny is being undertaken in line with a three-to-five-year timeframe from when the Act came into effect rather than the original date of Royal Assent.”
“… the Act will not come into force until later in 2025. As a result, post legislative scrutiny will be undertaken in line with the three-to-five-year timeframe from when the Act comes into effect rather than the original date of Royal Assent - between late 2028 and …”
“I am committed to delivering upon Defra's parliamentary commitments and to ensure that the post legislative scrutiny outlined in this letter is carried out to the expected timeframes.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗