CO (23) 7: Management of Parliamentary Business after the Dissolution of Parliament

1 This circular provides guidance on the management of parliamentary business after Parliament has been dissolved. The key points are as follows:

2 Section 20 of the Constitution Act 1986 provides that all parliamentary business before the House or its committees lapses on the dissolution or expiration of a Parliament but may be reinstated in the next session of Parliament by a resolution of the House. This provision enables the new Parliament to determine which items of business it will consider.

3 The 53^rd Parliament will be dissolved on Friday 8 September 2023. All parliamentary business will then lapse.

4 Outstanding written parliamentary questions will also lapse when Parliament is dissolved. New questions may be lodged for Ministers up to 10.30am on the morning of the dissolution on 8 September 2023. Any questions remaining unanswered at the time of the dissolution will lapse permanently and cannot be answered, corrected, or reinstated in the new Parliament. Questions outstanding at this time will be closed with the automated reply “Parliament dissolved: no reply received”. Note that replies which have been lodged immediately before dissolution will still be published after the usual three-day delay, so the last replies may not be published until 11 September 2023.

Items for reinstatement#

Prior to the dissolution of Parliament

5 Agencies are expected to advise their Ministers of the items of parliamentary business within their portfolio that will lapse on 8 September. The Office of the Clerk will also list the items of parliamentary business that will lapse on dissolution in the Sessional Journals of the House for the 53^rd Parliament, which will be available on Parliament’s website.

Following the election

6 The Cabinet Office, assisted by the Office of the Clerk, will provide the Leader of the House with a schedule of business that has lapsed and is available for reinstatement.

7 To assist with the reinstatement process, departments are expected to advise their incoming Ministers of the items of business within their portfolio that have lapsed, and the implications of reinstating, or not reinstating, each item. Departments may wish to consider including this advice in their briefings for incoming Ministers.

Stage at which parliamentary business is resumed

8 The Standing Orders provide that parliamentary business is resumed at the stage that it had reached in the previous Parliament. Departments may wish to note the following timing guidelines:

9 The interregnum is the period between the dissolution of one Parliament and the opening of the next. Ministers and departments need to be aware of the process for managing the publication of reports, the confidentiality of lapsed select committee business, and correspondence with select committees during this period.

Publishing papers and reports after the dissolution of Parliament

10 Papers can continue to be presented as normal after the House rises, right up until the time of dissolution.

11 While papers cannot be presented to the House during the interregnum, Ministers may still be required by statute to publish reports or papers during this period. Departments need to be aware of any statutory requirements of this nature and advise their Minister accordingly. A statutory requirement to publish a document (usually an annual report) by a certain date, or as soon as practicable, supersedes the usual expectation that a document be presented to the House before it is published. If a document is published in this way, the usual arrangements must be made for the document to be presented to the House as soon as practicable when the new Parliament meets.

12 Reports or papers that are not required by statute to be published before they can be presented to the new Parliament should be retained by agencies until a government is appointed. When the new Parliament meets, the report or paper can be presented to the House in the usual way.

13 Papers may be provided to the House Office during the interregnum so that they are available to be presented as soon as the new Parliament meets. However, the legal protection conferred on parliamentary papers by the Parliamentary Privilege Act 2014 will not apply to such papers until they are presented to the House. There is no opportunity for this to occur before the first meeting of the new Parliament.

Confidentiality of lapsed select committee business

14 Standing Order 245 provides that all select committee proceedings remain confidential through the interregnum, until nine sitting days into the new Parliament. This confidentiality ceases after the ninth sitting day of the new Parliament unless the House resolves to reinstate the select committee business or the committee concerned decides to readopt it.

15 To avoid being in contempt of the House, departments and other agencies subject to the Official Information Act 1982 that hold or have access to select committee information should refuse, under section 18(c)(ii) of the Official Information Act 1982, requests for access to this material made after 8 September 2023 and before the ninth sitting day into the 54th Parliament.

Correspondence with select committees

16 During the interregnum, agencies should direct any correspondence to select committees, such as outstanding requests for information or advice, to the Clerk of the House of Representatives. This correspondence will be held by the Clerk until the 54^th Parliament meets, select committees are established, and the correspondence can be referred to the appropriate committee.