House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I say at the outset that my attitude towards the Bill is broadly positive and supportive. Almost all of its provisions seem likely to strengthen the House, to increase its legitimacy and to remove some of the misunderstandings that stand in the way of a proper public appreciation of its role. It is the kind of pragmatic approach to reform that, in a world where common-sense prevailed, would ensure a rapid passage on to the statute book. Whether we are in fact living, so far as House of Lords reform is concerned, in a common-sense world is, unfortunately, open to doubt. Another major asset of the Bill is that it would neither necessitate nor even offer the temptation of revisiting the issues so fully and recently covered in the work of the Joint Committee on Conventions chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Cunningham. That committee reached a consensus, which was subsequently endorsed by all parties and by the Government, and which now provides the basis for the relationship between the two Houses. One might have supposed that having so laboriously reached a consensus and having set aside certain initial approaches by the Government, on which it would not have been possible to reach a consensus, would be sufficient reason to let the matter of the respective powers of the two Houses in the legislation rest for a substantial period. I wish I believed that that was so, but there is plenty of evidence that it is not. Wisely, in my view, this Bill does not venture into that minefield, so there is no need to say more. There are, however, one or two points in the Bill which I would like to question which could, I believe, be improved. The Bill provides for, "““not less than twenty per cent of the membership of the House”” " to consist of members ““not affiliated”” to any party. That is most welcome as a global principle. It seems rather widely agreed that the presence in the present House of a substantial non-party element is one of its strengths. But I am not sure that the phrase ““not affiliated”” to any party is sufficiently precise for the purposes of legislation, quite apart from the fact that it is hardly a compelling label to wear; ““independent”” is both more positive and easier for the public to understand. It has, indeed, misled the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton of Epsom, because the 25 per cent of Cross-Benchers conceals the fact that not all Cross-Benchers are not affiliated to a party. I am quite sure that the absence from this legislation of any clear detailed definition of what would be required for someone to be judged as falling into this category, and the absence of any machinery for adjudicating the practical application of the broad principle of independent representation in the House would be a recipe for confusion and dispute. It cannot simply be left to the tender mercies of the usual channels. It needs to be clear and transparent on the face of the Bill and capable of objective application. I hope that further reflection will lead to those issues being clarified. Several noble Lords raised the quite different matter of ““conspicuous merit”” being the main criterion for membership of the House. Surely, that criterion is too backward looking, and leads us back to a House whose membership is regarded as an honour for past performance, rather than a job for the future. It seems that a strength of a number of recent proposals for reform has been that they sought to break the link that has hitherto existed between the honours system, which has an important role to play in our society, and membership of the second House of the legislature, which needs, above all, to be a job of work. Would a criterion of ““capacity and commitment to contribute effectively to the work of the House”” not be a more valid one in future than that of ““conspicuous merit””? Perhaps that too could be looked at. My third and last point relates to the composition of the statutory Appointments Commission. That is surely too heavily slanted towards the other place, whose Members do not seem to be conspicuous by their comprehension of and sympathy for the way in which we do our work. There needs to be a strong element in the commission with knowledge and experience of this House. Would it not also be wise to give the Convenor of Cross-Bench Peers a consultative role which would enable the commission to be made aware of his or her views or any gaps or weaknesses in the representativity of the group of independent Members and at the same time to be consulted about new appointments when they are under consideration? I conclude by wishing the Bill a speedy passage.