Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

LordsSelectest. 17 Dec 2003Email ↗● Actively Monitored
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Sessions analysed1
Commitments2
Positions2
Recommendations1

Latest Signals

28 Oct 2025Home Office still seen as failing on impact assessmentsHome OfficeConcern
“[Speaker: The Chair] When the committee last had an evidence session with the Home Office—that was in March 2024, before my time as Chair of the committee—it was on the subject of the Home Office’s failure to provide impact assessments. I have to say that I find it concerning and regrettable that we are here again, more than 18 months down the line, still talking about the same issue. It does seem that on immigration policy in particular we are not just seeing a failure to provide impact assessments but that there are other key aspects of the policy-making process that seem to be being missed, leading to an appearance of what we have termed—and we will be interested to hear your comment on it—policy by press release.”
28 Oct 2025Unclear whether 5-to-10-year citizenship rule is retrospectiveHome OfficeConcern
28 Oct 2025Home Office says it must act fast despite imperfect paperworkHome OfficePosition
28 Oct 2025HC 997 impacts on care vacancies remain unclearHome OfficeConcern
28 Oct 2025Committee sees inconsistency over refugee family reunion pauseHome OfficeDisagreement
28 Oct 2025Refugee family reunion suspension lacked IA and relied on Appendix FMHome OfficeLegislative
28 Oct 2025Delay caused by unresolved behavioural modelling disagreementsHome OfficeConcern
28 Oct 2025Concern that policy changes may worsen care-sector shortagesHome OfficeConcern

Recent Sessions

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28 Oct 2025Home Office migration rules and impact assessments
2 commit2 pos6 concern1 rec1 disag1 leg

Recent Commitments

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Recent Recommendations

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Frequent Witnesses

Home Office1× · 13 insights

About this committee

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords examines impact assessments accompanying secondary legislation to assess whether they meet Cabinet Office standards and properly analyse regulatory effects. The Committee operates as a select committee and conducts oral evidence sessions with government departments and external witnesses. Its scrutiny occurs after statutory instruments are laid but before they take effect, allowing time for recommendations to influence implementation. Recent work has focused on Home Office immigration rules, where the Committee analysed the accompanying impact assessment to evaluate how the department assessed costs, benefits, and compliance burdens on affected stakeholders. The Committee's role is to identify deficiencies in impact assessment quality rather than to block legislation, reporting findings to both Houses to inform parliamentary debate on secondary instruments.