Leaving the European Union: Reporting to Parliament on the Progress of Negotiations

On 7 September 2017, the House of Lords is due to debate a question for short debate tabled by Lord Dykes (Crossbench) to ask what plans the Government has to bring regular reports before Parliament on the process of the negotiations for Brexit.

David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, has said that he intends to report back to Parliament immediately after each stage of the negotiations. The first round of negotiations took place on 19 June 2017, while Parliament was not sitting following the general election. The second round of talks finished on the same day that Parliament rose for the summer recess; Mr Davis has therefore said he will make a statement to Parliament on the second and third rounds when Parliament is sitting in September. Since the formal stage of negotiations began, members of both Houses have expressed dissatisfaction with the Government’s arrangements for reporting back to Parliament. The Government has stressed the need to strike a balance between confidentiality and transparency when sharing information about the progress of the negotiations, but has made a commitment that the UK Parliament will receive at least as much information as that received by members of the European Parliament. The House of Lords European Union Committee has pressed Mr Davis for more information on how he intends to ensure that this happens.