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.