House of Lords appointments report
21 January 2009 (updated on 22 April 2010)
In a short report published today, the Commons Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) calls again on the Government to "move to a system where parties supply longlists of nominees" to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, with decisions on membership of the Lords "made from those lists by the Commission against tests of both probity and public interest". PASC points out that this could be done immediately, without the need for legislation.
PASC’s report is a response to the Government’s most recent White Paper on reform of the House of Lords, "An Elected Second Chamber", which was published in July last year. The Committee acknowledges that the introduction of a fully or largely elected second chamber would make its proposal "obsolete", but notes that "that moment is some years off even at best" and calls on the Government to "bring fairness and transparency to the interim arrangements between now and the completion of reform" by implementing PASC’s proposal, presented with cross-party support.
PASC first made the proposal in 2007, in a comprehensive report on Propriety and Peerages. The Committee states that it sees "no reason for further delay".