Downing Street Says » House of Lords reform

» Thursday, November 23, 2006

House of Lords reform

Asked for an update on progress towards a White Paper, the Leader said no conclusion had been reached at present. Mr Straw said that there two related matters. One was the Government’s response to the Cunningham report on the conventions, which was currently being drafted. It was hoped to publish the response quite shortly and have a debate, firstly in the House of Lords and then in the House of Commons. He said they would be in sequence since there would be a Message from the Lords to the Commons. It was possible that the debate could occur in the Lords before Christmas.

The Leader added that, in the context of his all-party working group, he had discussed an outline of the Government’s response, although it was the Government’s responsibility. The group was also meeting regularly to discuss different elements of Lords reform. So far, the atmosphere had been very constructive. They had identified some areas where there was broad agreement; there were others where there was not. In any event, there was a need to reach a serious proposition on which there would be free votes in both Houses on the issue of composition.

Mr Straw said there would be a discussion at Cabinet, although most members of it sat on the committee dealing with the policy. He said that the response to Cunningham would be followed by debates. But he would not publish the White Paper on the future of the Lords in advance of the debate in the Lords on the Cunningham report, although it was possible that he might do before the Commons had considered the Message.

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