PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: 20 January 2000

Constitution Unit gives two cheers to Royal Commission report

The Constitution Unit today gave a partial welcome to the Wakeham Commission’s report on House of Lords reform. The Unit did most of the commissioned research for the Royal Commission, supplying 8 out of the 12 commissioned papers.  Much of this was international research drawing on Meg Russell’s book Reforming the House of Lords: Lessons from Overseas. The Unit expressed disappointment at the small proportion of elected members, the continuing presence of the Law Lords, and the weak links suggested with devolution.

Senior Research Fellow Meg Russell said: “The Royal Commission have made some very sensible proposals, which move the UK towards good practice internationally. However, the composition of the second chamber under these plans would remain anachronistic, which could damage the chamber’s ability to carry out the important roles it has been given.”

Constitution Unit Director Robert Hazell said: “Wakeham’s model is certainly an improvement on the current second chamber. It is a step in the right direction, and we must now build on the Wakeham proposals.  We must keep up the pressure on Lords reform, which we plan to do through our big conference organised with the Royal Commission in March.  The second chamber is much too important to be left simply as it is.”

The Unit welcomed the following aspects of the Royal Commission’s report:

·      Legislative powers: The proposal that the new chamber be at least as powerful as the present House of Lords gives it the power to force Government and the Commons to think again.

·      Constitutional guardian: The stronger role for the upper house as a ‘constitutional watchdog’, with a new Constitutional Committee,  and specific responsibility for checking that new legislation complies with the Human Rights Act.  Such roles are common overseas.

·      Elected members from nations and regions, serving long terms: This goes some way to providing a democratic element, whilst encouraging independence amongst members.

·      Independent Appointments Commission: Putting this on a statutory basis, with requirement that 20% of members are are non-party, at least 30% women, and a fair ethnic and regional mix, will end political patronage and help boost confidence in the chamber.

·      Breaking the link with the peerage, and increasing allowances to members: This will help to emphasise that membership of the second chamber is a job and not an honour.

However, the Unit is concerned by the following proposals:

·      Mix of elected and appointed members: If no more than a third (at most) of upper house members are elected, the chamber may not win sufficient public support to do its job. At a minimum half the members of the chamber should be elected.

·      Size of the chamber: The proposed size of the chamber is 550, which is rather unweildy. If no more than half the members were appointed this would also cut the chamber’s size. At present the largest second chamber in the world - the Italian Senate - has only 326 members.

·      Link to devolution: The Commission have recognised the benefit of linking the upper house to devolution, but the links are too weak. Only the 12 to 35 per cent who are elected will represent the nations and regions. This is not enough. Experience from overseas suggests that stronger links need to be made with devolution from the start.

·      Constitutional powers: The Commission should have done more in this area - eg. so the upper house could block future constitutional reform proposals unless they were put to a referendum. Many second chambers can block constitutional reform altogether.

·      Future of the Law Lords: No other country has its senior judges sitting in Parliament. It is time we had a properly resourced and independent Supreme Court.

Notes for Editors: 

1.    The Constitution Unit is a specialist think tank working on the implementation of constitutional reform. It is independent and non-partisan, based in the School of Public Policy at University College London.

2.    The Constitution Unit is organising a big one-day conference on 8 March, with support from the Royal Commission, to discuss the Commission’s report.

3.    Meg Russell’s book Reforming the House of Lords: Lessons from Overseas was published on 13 January by Oxford University Press, priced £18.99 (ISBN 0198298315).

Contact:

Senior Resarch Fellow:                        Meg Russell                0171 504 4974 (work), 0171 226 5727(home)

Constitution Unit Director:                 Robert Hazell              0171 504 4971 (work), 0171 267 4881 (home)

Constitution Unit Administrator:       Rebecca/Gareth          0171 504 4977

This page last modified 3 July, 2007 by v.spence@ucl.ac.uk