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Government response to HL 284-I/HC 1313-I session 2010-12 (ISBN 9780108475795)

Second Chamber

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Public Administration Select Committee

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 56


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This report details the response of the Public Administration Select Committee to the Government's proposals for the reform of the House of Lords (contained in the White Paper (Cm. 5291, ISBN 0101529120) published in November 2001). The Committee argues that the White Paper is fundamentally misconceived in its determination to ensure the pre-eminence of the House of Commons, as this is not in any doubt. The real task is to increase the effectiveness of Parliament as a whole (i.e. both chambers) in holding the Government to account for its actions and policies, and this should be the focus of any reforms. The House of Lords should continue to be a revising, scrutinising and deliberative assembly, but its performance of all these functions should be strengthened. Recommendations include: 1) 60 per cent of members should be elected (compared to the 20 per cent proposed by the Government), 20 per cent should be nominated by the political parties and 20 per cent independent members; 2) the size of the second chamber should eventually be reduced to 350 members; and 3) the next step should be the production of a draft Bill for consideration by a joint committee of both Houses as soon as possible.
This is a draft Bill and white paper on proposals to change the House of Lords into a more democratically elected second chamber. A cross-party Committee met seven times from June to December 2010 and considered all reform issues related to the House of Lords. Agreement was reached on a large number of issues but differences in opinion remain on the size of the elected element and the type of electoral system. The Government now wants to take the discussion forward to a debate on the detail. Proposals include an 80 percent elected House of Lords but a wholly elected House of Lords has not been ruled out. The Draft Bill sets out elections using the Single Transferable Vote system but it is recognised that a case can be made for other proportional systems too. Other proposals, name, size, functions, powers and term length are some of several issues discussed.
Fourth report of Session 2010-11 : Joint Committee on the draft House of Lords Reform Bill
This publication contains the Standing Orders of the House of Lords which set out information on the procedure and working of the House, under a range of headings including: Lords and the manner of their introduction; excepted hereditary peers; the Speaker; general observances; debates; arrangement of business; bills; divisions; committees; parliamentary papers; public petitions; privilege; making or suspending of Standing Orders.
Government reply to the Committee's 6th report of session 2006-07 (HLP 151, ISBN 9780104011256)
Dated November 2015. Print and web pdfs available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications Web ISBN=9781474125666
The history of reform of the House of Lords has a long history since the Parliament Act 1911, and since the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right of all but 92 hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, there has been a number of initiatives to further the debate on reform. The latest proposals are contained in the draft Bill (Cm. 8077, ISBN 9780101807722) published in May 2011, which was referred to the Joint Committee. In this report the Joint Committee acknowledges the controversial aspects of certain of the proposals and the members of the Committee reflect wider differences of opinion, many of the report's recommendations being decided by a majority. The majority supports the need for an electoral mandate, provided the House has commensurate powers. The current functions and role would continue, but the House would probably seek to be more assertive, to an extent that cannot be predicted. The Committee recommends a House of 450 members, 80% elected on a system of Single Transferable Voting (preferably that used in New South Wales, not the one proposed in the Bill) for a 15 year term.The main sections of the report cover: functions, role, primacy of the Commons and conventions; electoral system, size, voting system and constituencies; appointments, bishops and ministers; transition, salaries, IPSA, disqualification. The Committee recommends that, in view of the significance of the constitutional change, the Government should submit the decision to a referendum.