The Legislative Council is to review how it deals with the legislative programme.

MLCs have voted unanimously to back a move by Kate Lord-Brennan to set up a select committee to consider its preparations for the forthcoming legislative programme - the government has repeatedly hyped just how many pieces of legislation it plans to introduce this term - as well as look at its overall functioning.

Many see the primary role of the Legislative Council to act as a revising chamber, looking at draft laws that have already been scrutinised and debated in the House of Keys. But legislation can also be introduced first in the LegCo, before then going to the House of Keys, a route the current government has chosen several times.

Mrs Lord-Brenan said: ’The intention behind the idea of a committee on the business and functioning of the council is to provide a way to both review and improve how this place carries out legislative business and the effectiveness of the scrutiny role.

’The motion in the main is about readiness and preparation for upcoming work and we anticipate, by my count, as many as 37 bills in the 2019-20 legislative programme, and I understand a few private member’s bills.’

The committee would not be allowed to report on policy matters, she said, although it would consider the functioning of LegCo - ’what we do and how we do it’.

Jane Poole-Wilson supported the idea. Referring to previous warnings from fellow MLC David Cretney that a heavy programme risked affecting the standard of laws pushed through by the government, she said: ’The quality of the laws we make is key and we must be careful not to allow that the quantity of legislation ends up risking the quality.’

Support for the creation of the select committee was unanimous.