50 Annual Report
The new Government held over almost all bills from the previous
Parliament in their first sittings in 2009. After the 2009 Legislative
Programme was developed several bills were discharged and this process
is continuing. Some of the retained bills have still not had their first
reading and been sent to select committee, so it is unknown whether
they will proceed.
Others have now had a first reading, sometimes after revision or under
a new name and also sometimes with a short time between first reading
and the due date for submissions to select committee. The new
Government also passed several bills under urgency in the first months,
without time for them to be considered by the LAC.
The Commissionfs March status report for LAC noted that nine bills
had been discontinued, leaving 13 bills carried over for which no reports
had been prepared in 2008.
Reports on 63 bills were provided in the 2008/09 year. The months
when reports were provided illustrate the point that in election year the
usual timeframes could not operate for some months. Twenty five
Commission reports went to LAC before September 2008, 16 reports to
the first LAC meeting in February 2009, and 23 reports were provided
from March to the end of June.
The LAC requires the Commission to manage the provision of reports
so as to enable the Committee to consider the reports before the date on
which submissions are due with select committee. The current
performance standard which requires the Commission to provide the
reports within one month of the introduction of a bill will be revised,
as the Committee does not need to consider a bill in advance of it having
its first reading and being sent to the select committee.
The Commission meets the service standards required by LAC. Where the
timing of the next LAC meeting means that it cannot consider the bill
before the due date of submissions, the Commission either forwards the
report to LAC members outside of the meeting and co-ordinates the LAC
response, or seeks agreement from the Clerk of the select committee for a
late submission. It is sometimes preferable for LAC members to have a full
discussion at the regular meeting and make a late submission.
Other advisory work
In addition to the work of the two executive committees, the Commission
has provided advice directly to Government on other matters pertaining
to policy and/or legislation. The burden of this work usually falls on
Commissioners. In 2008/09, of the total substantive hours available for