With permission, my Lords, I should like to make a statement on the Government's proposals for taking forward reform of the House of Lords.
The Government began the process of Lords reform with the removal of the great majority of the hereditary peers in 1999. We are committed to further reform of the House of Lords, to remove the remaining hereditary peers and to provide Parliament with a modern, effective Second Chamber.
We have listened carefully to the wide range of views expressed in the recent debates on Lords reform in both Houses of Parliament, and to the responses to the White Paper. We have taken account of the Report of the Public Administration Select Committee. We have also considered statements from all Parties that this issue should be considered further by a Joint Committee of both Houses. I hope therefore that the way forward I am announcing today will be welcomed and supported on all sides of the House.
We have decided that, on this vital constitutional issue, which concerns not only the composition of the House of Lords but also the role of Parliament as a whole and the relations between the two Houses, it would be right to invite the two Houses to establish a Joint Committee, in the hope that we can forge the broadest possible Parliamentary consensus on the way forward. We hope that the Houses will be able to proceed with the establishment of the Joint Committee as soon as possible. We have noted the recent joint statement of the two main Opposition parties that such a Joint Committee would help reconcile differences and seek a principled consensus on the way forward. I therefore hope that we can look forward to their co-operation in setting up the Joint Committee as soon as possible and making a success of its work.
Reform of the Second Chamber has implications for the future of Parliament as a whole, and in particular for the relations between the two Chambers. It is right that Parliament itself should record its views on the composition of the Second Chamber. For this we believe that a Joint Committee alone is insufficient. We therefore intend to ask the Joint Committee, as the first phase of its work, to report on options for the composition and powers of the House of Lords once reform has been completed. This will define options for composition, to include a fully nominated and fully elected House, and intermediate options. Both Houses will then be asked to record their views on these options in free votes.
In the second phase of its work, on which the Committee will report, it will define in greater detail the proposed composition, role and powers of the reformed Second Chamber, taking account of the opinions expressed by the two Houses. It should also recommend the transitional strategy for transforming the existing House of Lords into its fully reformed state. This will be particularly important if the recommendation were to be for a significantly smaller House.
The Government's intention would then be to bring forward legislation in the light of the Report of the Joint Committee and the opinions of both Houses expressed in these free votes.
As both the Royal Commission chaired by the Noble Lord, Lord Wakeham and the Government's White Paper made clear, any proposals on the powers and composition of the House of Lords must flow from a clear understanding of its role and functions. The issues to be considered by the Joint Committee therefore will include:
First, the role and authority intended for the Second Chamber within the context of Parliament as a whole. There is, we believe, a consensus that its main role should continue to be as a revising, scrutinising and deliberative assembly; with the power to delay but not to seek to veto legislation;
Second, the impact of that role and authority on the existing supremacy of the House of Commons and relations with the Executive. There is, we believe, broad agreement that the Commons should retain its role as the pre-eminent Chamber and that the test for any Government should continue to be whether it can command a majority in the House of Commons.
Third, the composition and powers of the Second Chamber best suited to give effect to the role and authority intended for that House. This consideration should include the implications of a House composed of more than one 'class' of member and also the experience and expertise which the House of Lords in its present form brings to its function as the revising Chamber.
It will also be necessary to consider the most appropriate and effective legal and constitutional means to give effect to any new Parliamentary settlement, including any mechanisms required for resolving conflicts between the two Houses.
In order to inform the Joint Committee's deliberations, the Government is today publishing the full results of the consultation on its White Paper. We received over a thousand responses. The full analysis is now available in the Printed Paper Office and on the Lord Chancellor's Department website.
My Lords, the government has a major record of constitutional reform. Since 1997 we have created a Scottish Parliament and Assemblies for Wales and Northern Ireland. We have enacted the first House of Lords Act, the Human Rights Act, and the Freedom of Information Act. We have given the Bank of England independence in the setting of interest rates. Last week the Deputy Prime Minister set out our plans to allow the creation of Regional Assemblies in those regions of England that vote for them. We have enhanced the role of the select committees - including my Right Honourable Friend's announcement that he will be the first Prime Minister ever to appear before the Liaison Committee. And we are modernising the working practices of both Chambers. Taken together, this is the most substantial programme of constitutional reform for over a century and will stand as one of this government's historic achievements.
Today's announcement is another important step towards ensuring that reform of the House of Lords ranks alongside these achievements. We must not allow a repeat of past history in which reform has been delayed because those who wanted it could not agree and therefore left the field to those who opposed it.
Our objective is to secure a Second Chamber that is broadly representative of the Britain of today, a chamber which will complement the Commons by reinforcing Parliament's ability to conduct scrutiny and hold the Executive to account, and which will increase the respect of the public for Parliament. The way forward I have outlined puts responsibility in the hands of Parliament itself in free votes. I urge members of all sides of the House to respond not as Party politicians, but as Parliamentarians committed to a strong Parliament within a modern democracy.