The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee continues its inquiry into the Role and Powers of the Prime Minister. There have been a number of significant developments in the context of the role and powers of the Prime Minister since the launch of the Committee’s inquiry in January 2011, including the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in September 2011, the publication of the Cabinet Manual in October 2011, and the agreement between the UK Government and the Scottish Government for a referendum on independence for Scotland, which was published in October 2012.
The coalition Government has also now had two and a half years to bed down. With these developments in mind, the Committee intends to take further oral evidence as part of this inquiry in the new year and is seeking written evidence on the Prime Minister’s prerogative powers, codification of the PM’s powers, the PM’s role and powers within coalition government, the organisation of the PM’s office, and the PM’s role in relation to the devolved Administrations. Full details in the news story below.
How to respond
The deadline for written submissions is Thursday 31 January 2013. Submissions should not significantly exceed 3,000 words unless this has been cleared in advance with the Committee secretariat. Written responses to the Committee will usually be treated as evidence to the Committee and may be published. Full details in the news story below.