Press Release: Constitution Unit report to call for reform of Commons legislation committees

A report being launched in the Commons next Monday by the Constitution Unit calls for a shakeup of the 'public bill committees' that deal with government legislation. It follows a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, which looked at what the House of Commons can learn from legislation committees in other parliaments. Two senior parliamentarians will speak at the launch, along with the report lead author.

Fitting the Bill: Bringing Commons Legislation Committees into Line with Best Practice summarises the perceived difficulties with current arrangements, reviews previous reform proposals, and looks for inspiration to legislation committees in other parliaments. It concludes that the House of Commons' legislation committees are increasingly out of step, not only with international best practice, but also with the chamber's own well-respected select committees. The report therefore makes proposals for reform, suggesting some immediate changes plus piloting of three different models of legislative committee.

Details of the launch are as follows:

• Time: 5 pm, Monday 10 June.

• Venue: Grand Committee Room in the main building (off Westminster Hall). 

• Speakers: 
  

  • Meg Russell (Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit)
  • Jack Straw (former Leader of the House of Commons)
  • Charles Walker (Chair of the Procedure Committee)

• Chair: Jacqy Sharpe, Clerk of Legislation

To book a place, please contact the Constitution Unit administrator Ben Webb: ben.webb@ucl.ac.uk

Representatives of the media wanting an embargoed copy of the report should contact us at the same address.

Notes for editors:

• The Constitution Unit is an independent and non-partisan research centre based in the Department of Political Science at University College London 

• Fitting the Bill: Bringing Commons Legislation Committees into Line with Best Practice, by Meg Russell, Bob Morris and Phil Larkin is the product of a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Details of the project can be found here