PART 5Strategy and Policy Statement
135Procedural requirements
1
This section sets out the requirements that must be satisfied in relation to a statement before the Secretary of State may designate it as the strategy and policy statement.
2
In this section references to a statement include references to a statement as amended following a review under section 134(6)(a).
3
The Secretary of State must first—
a
prepare a draft of the statement, and
b
issue the draft to the required consultees for the purpose of consulting them about it.
4
The “required consultees” are—
a
the Authority,
b
the Scottish Ministers, and
c
the Welsh Ministers.
5
The Secretary of State must then—
a
make such revisions to the draft as the Secretary of State considers appropriate as a result of responses to the consultation under subsection (3)(b), and
b
issue the revised draft for the purposes of further consultation about it to the required consultees and to such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
6
The Secretary of State must then—
a
make any further revisions to the draft that the Secretary of State considers appropriate as a result of responses to the consultation under subsection (5)(b), and
b
prepare a report summarising those responses and the changes (if any) that the Secretary of State has made to the draft as a result.
7
The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament—
a
the statement as revised under subsection (6)(a), and
b
the report prepared under subsection (6)(b).
8
The statement as laid under subsection (7)(a) must have been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament before the Secretary of State may designate it as the strategy and policy statement under section 131.
9
The requirement under subsection (3)(a) to prepare a draft of a statement may be satisfied by preparation carried out before, as well as preparation carried out after, the passing of this Act.