My Lords, I much regret to inform the House of the death of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, on Thursday 29 January. On behalf of the House, I extend our condolences to the noble and learned Lord’s family and friends.
My Lords, these 29 Motions give effect to the rotation rule that is applied each January, following the recent meeting of the Committee of Selection, to secure a regular turnover of Select Committee membership. They also appoint and establish the membership of the 2026 special inquiry committees. I …
That: (1) A Select Committee be appointed to consider and make recommendations on— (a) a retirement age, and (b) a participation requirement for members of the House of Lords; (2) In relation to these issues the Committee shall consider and report to the House on— (a) the impact of a retirement age …
My Lords, the 5th report from the Procedure and Privileges Committee follows an invitation from the Conduct Committee to the Procedure and Privileges Committee to review the application of the rotation rule to Peer members of the Conduct Committee. The report before your Lordships’ House recommends …
My Lords, the 5th report from the Procedure and Privileges Committee follows an invitation from the Conduct Committee to the Procedure and Privileges Committee to review the application of the rotation rule to Peer members of the Conduct Committee. The report before your Lordships’ House recommends …
My Lords, I should like to notify the House of the retirement, with effect from today, of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, pursuant to Section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. On behalf of the House, I thank the noble Lord for his much-valued service to the House.
My Lords, as noble Lords know, the Conduct Committee is made up of five Peer members and four external members. Four new external members were selected following an open competition earlier this year, which was presided over by the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller. It was agreed to stagger the…
My Lords, as noble Lords know, the Conduct Committee is made up of five Peer members and four external members. Four new external members were selected following an open competition earlier this year, which was presided over by the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller. It was agreed to stagger the…
That the standing orders relating to private business be amended as follows: Standing Order 83 ( Examination of public bills by Examiners ) After paragraph (4), insert: “(4A) In the case of a public bill in relation to which the Examiner decides standing orders are applicable, or of any additional p…
That the standing orders relating to public business be amended as follows: Standing Order 21 ( Leave of absence ) At end insert: “(9) Where a member who has been on leave of absence for an extended period applies to renew the absence, the Leave of Absence Sub-Committee of the Procedure and Privileg…
My Lords, there are two proposals in this report. The first relates to the leave of absence scheme. The second is a minor amendment to the private business Standing Orders. The origin of the first proposal was a letter from the Convenor of the Cross Benches, asking that the committee review the leav…
My Lords, there are two proposals in this report. The first relates to the leave of absence scheme. The second is a minor amendment to the private business Standing Orders. The origin of the first proposal was a letter from the Convenor of the Cross Benches, asking that the committee review the leav…
My Lords, as noble Lords are aware, after the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the House agreed a Motion tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, to establish a Select Committee to consider the safeguards and procedures contained in the Bill. As agreed by the House o…
My Lords, as noble Lords are aware, after the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the House agreed a Motion tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, to establish a Select Committee to consider the safeguards and procedures contained in the Bill. As agreed by the House o…
That the standing orders relating to public business be amended as follows: Standing Order 37 ( Order of business ) Line 1, after “SO”, insert “38(9) and”. Standing Order 38 ( Arrangement of the order paper ) Paragraph 9, leave out “except for balloted topical questions for short debate on Thursdays…
My Lords, the genesis of the changes proposed in the report was a letter from the Leader of the House containing various suggestions to make business clearer and easier for Members to navigate. The changes fall into three broad areas—Questions for Short Debate, time limits and deadlines for speakers…
My Lords, I welcome all the provisions in the report, but could the committee turn its attention to the time we are given to consider important subjects at Second Readings and elsewhere? The most egregious example, where the Chief Whip has been excellent in his response, is the Bill currently before…
I thank the Senior Deputy Speaker for that Answer. This scheme is a kitemark, of which there are several on the parliamentary website. This shows that the 80,000 children who access the Parliamentary Estate will not be able to access or see age-inappropriate material. Of course, our Parliament compl…
My Lords, is it not the case that the House authorities can already block access to inappropriate sites? When I was in the other place, my opposite number the Australian Chief Whip presented me with a 12-foot bullwhip, and the Ministerial Code required me to find out its value. When my private offic…
My Lords, I thank noble Lords who are coming off committees for their work. I also place on record my considerable thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Newby, whose term as Leader of the Liberal Democrats ends on Thursday. I am most grateful for his significant contribution to committee work, and beyond. …
My Lords, I do not hold the Senior Deputy Speaker responsible for this scandal, but it is a scandalous waste of public money. Who gave the security advice on the useless door and the ridiculous and ineffective fence? I was on the Joint Committee on security for some five years. We never discussed th…
Is the Senior Deputy Speaker able to tell the House how much the estimate was for the development in the first place? He has told us how much it finally cost, but can he tell us how much the estimate was originally?
My Lords, can the Senior Deputy Speaker confirm that a Joint Committee concluded in 2016 that the Palace of Westminster
“faces an impending crisis which we cannot responsibly ignore”
and that through the 2019 Act both Houses agreed that the only option was a full decant? The noble Lord, Lord Lisva…
My Lords, can the noble Lord confirm that the cost of delay in taking a decision on getting started is running at £700 million a year, and that we really need to get a definitive decision now? Given that, under any sensible option, the House of Lords will have to decant to the QEII Centre for a peri…
My Lords, as noble Lords know, the Conduct Committee is made up of five Peer members and four external members. The first group of four external members was appointed in autumn 2019 for an initial three years, renewable for a further three years—in other words, until later this year. To help maintai…
My Lords, may I ask the Senior Deputy Speaker a question? When we debated the excellent report produced by the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, there was an issue that there was a differential in the terms of office between the Peers who were appointed. He is suggesting that this appointment …