'Government should make fewer laws'

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A report by the Better Government Initiative urged ministers to strengthen the scrutiny of Government by Parliament.

The BGI - whose members include former Cabinet Secretary Lord Butler and an array of former permanent secretaries and senior agency heads - also called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to restore Cabinet government as part of his plans for renewing trust in politics.

All policy proposals of major importance should be discussed fully by the Cabinet, the report said.

It also recommended strengthening Parliamentary select committees and having them assess how well new laws have worked.

Parliament should also be given new powers to scrutinise spending, it said.

Lord Butler said: "These papers give an excellent idea of the kinds of changes desirable to end sofa government."

The proposals form the think tank's response to the Government's Green paper on reform of Government.

BGI chairman Sir Christopher Fraser said: "The public deserves a system of government that works. We welcome the ideas in the Government's Green Paper, which we believe are on the right lines.

"But the devil is in the detail. The Better Government Initiative has put forward some radical but practical proposals for action. It is urgent to get on with it."