Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments from the Home Office have been laid this calendar year; of those, what percentage corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what steps that Department is taking to reduce the need for correcting instruments.

The Home Office has laid 51 statutory instruments so far this calendar year. Five of these (10%) corrected errors in a previous instrument. Not all "errors" in a statutory instrument are drafting errors. Some instruments are withdrawn due to factual errors or changes in policy.The Home Office Legal Adviser's Branch has in place a "three pairs of eyes" check on all statutory instruments made by the Department. The policy instructions must be cleared by a Senior Civil Service official in the instructing unit. Instruments are then drafted by the responsible lawyer and are checked and cleared by the Senior Civil Service team leader. Instruments are then finally cleared by one of two senior lawyers with specialist drafting skills before they are laid. These processes were enhanced and improved in April this year. The quality of statutory instrument drafting is also being discussed within the wider Treasury Solicitor’s Department with a view to identifying ways of improving quality through, for example, more rigorous monitoring, better training and more flexible use of experienced and skilled drafters.