House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am in favour of this Bill, so admirably introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Steel. It would introduce limited reforms of the House of Lords. Reform is vital, but it must be done to improve the functioning of Parliament, to invigorate the parliamentary process, and to help make Parliament more relevant to the British people. The Bill does all this and would introduce a limited set of reforms through consensus, which is very important. It will need some amendment, but it can achieve many of the above goals. I hope that noble Lords and Members of the other place would acknowledge that an enormous amount of change has already taken place. Certainly in the time that I have been in the House, I have seen the active participation of many recently appointed Peers from very diverse backgrounds and different parts of the country. They bring expertise and specialist experience to the second Chamber and contribute in a remarkable way to its work. Like many other people, I would not like to see as an unintended consequence of change this breadth of skills and experience lost, but that could happen. However, it could be enhanced and the public’s trust in Parliament increased if the appointments system were changed so that it becomes an independent statutory body, as suggested by the Bill. That would increase transparency and ensure that the House openly reflected in its membership the regions, the sectors and the diverse communities which make up our country. This would in no way conflict with the other place, where Members are accountable primarily to their constituents and are therefore elected for quite different reasons. The Bill would also avoid the need to introduce yet another layer of elected politicians to our country, where the emphasis is shifting towards local and regional elected members having more powers and autonomy. A statutory commission could insist on securing a commitment from future Members to work actively in the House and not to be given a peerage purely as an honour. The Bill would provide a means by which people could take permanent leave of absence and, if necessary, be expelled, and it deals with the question of the by-election process for the remaining hereditary Peers. It would gradually achieve, through a consensual process, a means of ensuring the complementary working relationships of both Houses and enabling the valuable roles played by each Chamber to continue and to be enhanced.