The House of Commons has appointed a new Modernisation Committee and issued a call for views on what it should address.
So what is the Modernisation Committee, and what should it be doing?
Our Director, Dr Ruth Fox, led Hansard Society members in an online discussion on Modernisation Committee reforms.
6:30-7:45pm, Tuesday 19 November 2024 online via Zoom
This is a meeting for Hansard Society members and their friends. Not already a member of the Hansard Society? Join us now!
A new Modernisation Committee has been established to explore potential reforms to the House of Commons’ procedures, standards and working practices.
Chaired by the Leader of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Lucy Powell MP, the Committee has issued a call for views. We invite members and their friends to join us in discussing the Society’s planned response. Whether you have views of your own, would like to ask questions, or would simply like to hear what others think, this is a key moment in the parliamentary cycle for us all to reflect and shape the Hansard Society’s contribution to the debate.
Dr Ruth Fox is Director of the Hansard Society and co-host of our weekly Parliament Matters podcast. Ruth’s research focuses on parliamentary strengthening, constitutional reform, and public attitudes to politics. She is the co-author of The Devil is in the Detail: Parliament and Delegated Legislation, the first detailed study of the parliamentary scrutiny of delegated legislation for decades. She regularly gives evidence to parliamentary select committees and contributes to a wide range of current affairs programmes on radio and television, commentating on parliamentary process and political reform.
In our latest ‘Whipping Yarn’, we talk with Simon Hart, former Conservative Chief Whip during Rishi Sunak’s Premiership. Hart opens up about his time in one of Westminster’s most demanding and discreet roles, chronicled in his new book, ‘Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip’.
If a crisis or major national event occurs during a period when Parliament is adjourned, there are often demands from MPs, the media and the public for Parliament to be ‘recalled’. But the House of Commons Standing Orders stipulate that only Government Ministers - in reality, the Prime Minister - can ask the Speaker to recall the House. In recent years the House of Lords has generally been recalled at the same time as the House of Commons.
In response to the Modernisation Committee's call for views on 17 October 2024, we submitted evidence outlining key areas we believe the Committee should prioritise. Our submission recommended a focus on: strengthening legislative scrutiny, with particular emphasis on reforming the delegated legislation system; enhancing financial scrutiny, especially in relation to the Budget and the Estimates; addressing strategic gaps in parliamentary scrutiny; making more effective use of parliamentary time; and reviewing the Standing Orders, language and rituals of the House of Commons.
This briefing explains what to watch for during the Second Reading debate of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 29 November. It outlines the procedural and legislative issues that will come into play: the role of the Chair in managing the debate and how procedures such as the 'closure' and 'reasoned amendments' work. It looks ahead to the Committee and Report stage procedures that will apply if the Bill progresses beyond Second Reading. It also examines the government's responsibilities, such as providing a money resolution for the Bill and preparing an Impact Assessment, while addressing broader concerns about the adequacy of Private Members’ Bill procedures for scrutinising controversial issues.
In this ninth instalment of our special mini-podcast series, we continue to explore the latest developments in the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, often referred to as the assisted dying bill. We are joined by Dr Marie Tidball MP to discuss the amendments she has secured for a Disability Advisory Board and an independent advocate for people with learning disabilities.
