House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am a very enthusiastic supporter of the Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Steel of Aikwood, because its proposed measures to take reform forward are apt as to timing and purpose, they are well thought through and relatively uncomplicated. For that, we owe a great debt to the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth. I have been a Member of this House for long enough to say with some confidence that this House is working very well. The measures proposed in the Bill add something of particular value. They will help ensure that the effectiveness of this House is rendered sustainable over the long term. I wish to focus my brief remarks on just one clause—Clause 5, relating to the specific criteria that nominees must meet. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if for a moment I draw on my experience as chairman of your Lordships’ Select Committee on the European Union. Proper national parliamentary scrutiny of European legislation is a matter of very high constitutional importance. Currently, 77 Members of your Lordships’ House work week by week, day by day, scrutinising the 1,200 or more European Union documents deposited in Parliament every year. The quality of the analysis is extremely high, because the knowledge and expertise that is brought to bear is as broad as it is deep. I am, therefore, particularly heartened that Clause 5 identifies the principle criterion for recommendation for a peerage as ““conspicuous merit””, for, to me at least, that encompasses knowledge and expertise in a chosen field or fields. I also believe that the statutory appointments commission must be proactive. It must not sit back and wait for persons of conspicuous merit to come knocking on its door. It must identify the gaps in the House’s store of knowledge and expertise and seek to fill those gaps by finding those best qualified to fill them and committed to do the work. No aspect of your Lordships’ duty to hold the Government to account will benefit more from that proactive approach than the scrutiny of European legislation. This is a good Bill, enabling us to make progress on the basis of cross-party, bicameral consensus. We should give it our fullest support. I wish it a fair wind on its progress through the legislative process, which it merits, and for which the Government must give time.