The system for appointing members to the House of Lords must be
overhauled to bolster public confidence in politics and pave the
way for a reduction in the size of Parliament’s second chamber, a
cross-party committee of senior peers has said.
The Lord Speaker’s Committee on the Size of the House warned that
recent developments, such as the Resignation Honours List of
former PM , have “brought the
appointments system into question”.
For the first time, the Committee said that a mechanism to
deliver a fair and sustainable system must be put in place –
either by legislation or formal agreement between political
parties – before a permanent reduction in membership can be
achieved.
A reformed appointment system would tackle the current imbalance
in party representation, reduce the average age of members and
end the “ratchet effect” of incoming Prime Ministers nominating
large numbers of peers to ensure they can get their business
through the Upper House, said the committee.
The Committee’s fifth report, published today, also proposed new
reforms to enhance the independence of the process of appointing
non-political Crossbench peers, describing the current system as
“a muddle”.
And it stepped
up the committee’s
call for an end to by-elections for hereditary peers, which
distort the political and gender balance of the House.
The Committee produced a plan in 2017 to reduce numbers on the
Lords red benches from about 800 to 600 over the subsequent
decade through a “two-out one-in” system.
But today’s report said that the failure to make progress since
then meant the size of the House was now a “second-order issue”,
to be addressed only after the introduction of a sustainable
appointments system.
The committee, chaired by former Treasury permanent secretary
, said a sustainable system
should include:
- a cap on the maximum number of peers, which is currently
unlimited;
- a fixed-term limit – which could be 15 years – for service in
the Lords; and
- a fair allocation of new appointments based on recent
election results.
The report said that the presence of non-political members – such
as scientists, engineers, medics, charity campaigners and artists
– on the Crossbenches was “one of the most distinct and valuable
elements of the House”.
But it said that the system for their appointment was “a muddle”.
The independent House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC)
has since 2012 been restricted to two or three nominations of
non-party peers a year, with the result that a large majority of
Crossbenchers and non-affiliated Lords are now appointed by the
Prime Minister.
HOLAC has the “vital” task of appointing individuals who will add
to the breadth of experience and expertise in the Lords and help
ensure the Upper House represents the diversity of the UK, said
the report.
But it added: “This … cannot be achieved with such a small number
of [HOLAC] appointments. Prime Ministers need to revert to a
maximum of 10 non-HOLAC Crossbench appointments per Parliament,
and increase the number of members which they allow HOLAC to
appoint.”
Noting that the current system had led to a “preponderance” of
Conservatives among new appointments and a “significant”
under-representation of the opposition, the report concluded:
“Dealing with this situation is important.
“We hope that the leaders of the main parties can be persuaded to
recognise the danger that exists in the present arrangements for
both the reputation of the House of Lords and its effectiveness
in a well-functioning parliamentary system.”
The chair of the Lord Speaker’s Committee on the Size of the
House, , said: “There is widespread
support in the House of Lords for our core proposals, first
published in 2017. We must now learn from the problems we have
seen over the past six years which, if they were to continue,
could see the House becoming even bigger than now. The political
leadership should focus initially on putting in place a
sustainable and fair method of allocating appointments. This will
set the basis for a cap and a sustainable reduction in the size
of the House.”
The Lord Speaker, , said: “The
scrutiny and revision role of the House of Lords is crucial to
effective law-making, and this task is underpinned by the
expertise and experience which individual peers bring to their
work. This report by a cross-party committee of peers provides
recommendations which would reinforce the reputation and
effectiveness of the Lords. I hope they will be considered
seriously and carefully.”
Notes to editors:
Click here to view a copy of
the fifth report of the Lord Speaker's Committee on the Size of
the House, embargoed to 0001 Monday 17 July.
