Background
4.The government published a draft Deregulation Bill on 1 July 2013. The draft Bill was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. That Committee published its report on 19 December 2013. In response to the Joint Committee’s report, the government introduced the Bill in a revised form. The government’s response to the Joint Committee, which provides detailed responses to the Committee’s recommendations, was published in January 2014. The Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 23 January 2014 and was carried over to the next Parliamentary Session under Standing Order No.80A. It was introduced in the House of Lords on 24 June 2014. The carry-over motion was subsequently extended. The Table at the end of the Notes gives details of the parliamentary proceedings.
5.The Bill was presented by the government as contributing to its commitment to reduce or improve regulation and to cut "red tape" during the 2010 to 2015 Parliament. As such, several of the measures in the Bill were brought forward from the government’s "Red Tape Challenge" programme which sought views from businesses and the public on the removal and reform of areas of regulation.