Clarity needed on Kelly Report recommendation for non-elected members of House of Commons Committee - Dec 10, 2009
Appointment of lay members with voting rights raises important constitutional and parliamentary issues, says Hansard Society
Following today's statement by the Leader of the House that the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 is to be amended to implement the Kelly report recommendations regarding the role and remit of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, further clarification from the House of Commons is still needed on the appointment of lay members.
The Kelly Report recommended that at least two lay members who have never been parliamentarians should be appointed, with voting rights, to the Standards and Privileges Committee as a ‘step towards enhancing public acceptance of the robustness and independence of the disciplinary process' in the House of Commons. (Kelly recommendation 51, p106-107)
Today's statement does not address this recommendation which raises important constitutional and parliamentary issues as there is no precedent for non-elected members to be appointed to a House of Commons Committee and to be accorded voting rights equal to those of the MPs (see Editors' Notes). For the Standards and Privileges Committee to appoint lay members, then authorisation will be needed through a Resolution of the House. This will need to be laid by the Government.
Further clarity is also needed in relation to parliamentary privilege and the legal implications of lay members being members of a House of Commons Committee and the appointments process for these members.
Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society's Parliament and Government Programme said, ‘The announcement of new legislation to amend the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 is an important step forward in ensuring that the recommendations contained in the Kelly report are implemented. However, the House of Commons now needs to clarify what it proposes to do about the appointment of lay members, with voting rights, to the Standards and Privileges Committee. This issue raises important parliamentary and legal issues that need to be resolved as soon as possible if the new system is to be in place for the next Parliament.'
For further information contact Virginia Gibbons on 020 7438 1225 or Ruth Fox on 07779 666771
Editors' Notes
- The Hansard Society is the UK's leading non-partisan political research and education charity which exists to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in politics. (http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/)
- On publication of the Kelly Report in November the Hansard Society made clear that a number of its recommendations raised important parliamentary and legal issues that would need to be resolved if all the proposals in the report were to be implemented. Today's written statement by the Leader of the House of Lords confirming that new legislation will be brought forward by the Government to address some of these issues in relation to the future of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is therefore a welcome step forward
- There is precedent, dating back to the 1933-34 Joint Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform, for a committee to ‘call into consultation' non-members of the House. Then, the Joint Committee called into consultation representatives of the Indian States and British India but whilst they sat with the other committee members during the examination of witnesses, they had to put questions to witnesses through the Chair and they did not have voting rights. This approach was also considered during the handling of the devolution legislation in 1998/99.