Submissions to select committees and government responses to reports
Submissions to select committees
For detailed guidance about select committees, see paragraphs 7.97 - 7.111 of the Cabinet Manual and the State Services Commission guidance entitled Officials and Select Committees - Guidelines. In summary:
- Departments may not make a formal submission to a select committee on any Bill or select committee inquiry without the express approval of the Cabinet Legislation Committee (LEG).
- Departments should submit a paper to LEG, accompanied by the proposed text of the submission to the select committee and seeking approval for it. As for all Cabinet committee papers, interested departments must be consulted in the drafting of the response and the LEG paper.
- If a select committee requests written information from a department (not amounting to a formal submission), the department should clear the proposed response with their Minister.
Government responses to reports of select committees (petitions and inquiries)
If a report from a select committee to the House on an enquiry or petition includes recommendations to the government, a government response to the recommendations must be presented within 90 days of the committee's report (see Standing Order 253). Copies of all select committee reports are available from the New Zealand Parliament website: http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/SC/Reports/.
Such responses must first be approved by LEG.
When a response is required, the Cabinet Office will send the details to the relevant Minister's office. This will include a copy of the report or petition, detailed guidelines on how the response should be laid out, and the process to be followed.
The submission to LEG that accompanies the response should follow the standard format for a Cabinet paper and include comments on the recommendations.
If the select committee's report raises matters that require policy decisions to be taken by a Cabinet committee, a paper should be submitted to that committee before the final government response is submitted to LEG and Cabinet.
Government responses to Law Commission reports
After the Law Commission has completed a report, it will submit the report to the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission and the relevant portfolio Minister and seek the portfolio Minister's initial views. The Minister Responsible for the Law Commission is required to present all Law Commission reports to the House of Representatives and publish those reports in accordance with section 16 of the Law Commission Act 1985.
Once a portfolio Minister has received a Law Commission report, a draft Cabinet paper will be promptly prepared reflecting the views of the Minister and all relevant agencies, and incorporating split recommendations where there is no consensus. Unless the relevant Minister directs otherwise, the Law Commission will prepare the draft paper on the Minister's behalf. When the Minister is satisfied with the draft Cabinet paper, he or she will submit the paper to a Cabinet committee seeking Cabinet's approval for the recommendations to the extent that the Minister considers appropriate.
If the Law Commission report raises matters that require further policy decisions to be taken by Cabinet, a paper will need to be submitted to the appropriate Cabinet committee prior to the consideration of a proposed government response or Bill by LEG.
Information on Law Commission projects, including reports, is available on the Law Commission website: http://www.lawcom.govt.nz. The Cabinet Office, as part of its monitoring function, will monitor the progress of responses to Law Commission reports.
Further information on the process for selecting Law commission projects and responding to Law Commission reports is set out in Law Commission: Processes for Project Selection and Government Response to Reports [Cabinet Office Circular CO (07) 4].
If the Law Commission's recommendations are accepted
If Cabinet decides to accept the Law Commission's recommendations, with the result that a Bill is required, the Bill will be prepared with no further need for the government to present a response to the House of Representatives. Bills that emerge as a result of the government accepting Law Commission recommendations still require a place on the annual Legislation Programme. Proposals for Bills to be incorporated into the Legislation Programme should be submitted in the usual way.
If the Law Commission's recommendations are rejected
If Cabinet rejects the Law Commission's recommendations, or the government is responding to a self-initiated Law Commission project other than by introducing a draft Bill, the government will still be required to present to the House of Representatives a response to a Law Commission report within six months.
Where a government response is required , the relevant Minister must seek Cabinet approval for the text of the government response by submitting the response, with a Cabinet paper, to LEG and Cabinet. Template documents are available that show the standard format for a government response and the recommendations for the LEG paper. The templates will need to be adapted to match the format of the particular Law Commission recommendations. It may be appropriate to summarise or cluster key recommendations together when drafting the government response.
The standard format for the government response to a Law Commission report
Once approved by Cabinet, the office of the Minister concerned must arrange the presentation of the government response by delivering it to the Clerk of the House of Representatives in the usual way.
