Constitution Committee seeks legal adviser

Role of the adviser

The legal adviser will work alongside the committee’s other legal adviser, currently Professor Adam Tomkins, under the general direction of the clerk. The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Prepare written analyses of the constitutional implications of public bills and present them orally to the committee.
• Prepare draft reports on bills as appropriate to the committee’s instructions.
• Prepare draft letters to ministers as appropriate.
• Attend the committee as appropriate to assist its deliberation.
• Undertake other work for the committee as required.

The Constitution Committee employs a clerk, policy analyst and committee assistant. The House of Lords Committee Office is able to provide the legal advisers with some secretarial and administrative support.

Skills

The successful candidate will:

• Demonstrate a well-established expertise in the fields of public law generally and constitutional law in particular.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of how legislation is drafted.
• Be able to advise on the effects of legislation clearly and concisely, setting provisions in their legal and constitutional contexts.
• Be incisive, articulate and able to draft quickly and clearly for both a specialist and a non-specialist audience.

The adviser will be expected to offer the committee impartial advice, regardless of any personal or professional interest, and in particular should avoid being seen to favour a particular viewpoint when dealing with contentious issues.

Experience of working as a senior academic lawyer or as a senior lawyer in government is desirable, but the field is open to all those suitably qualified.

Time

The number of days a week the adviser will need to spend on the work of the committee will vary over the parliamentary session.

Activity is expected to be highest following The Queen’s speech opening the session, usually in the spring, so the scrutiny role will generally be particularly active from May to the end of July. There may be less activity in the rest of the year, although the autumn can also be busy.

The commitment should not average more than one day a week when the House is sitting. A fast pace of working is required: a note on a bill will often need to be prepared within days of the bill being introduced.

The adviser would normally work away from Westminster, communicating with the clerk and other staff by email and telephone. He or she would normally attend committee meetings at which notes on bills, or reports on them, which the adviser has drafted are being discussed.

The committee usually meets weekly, on Wednesdays at 10.15 am (though the meeting time or day may be subject to change at the discretion of the committee).

Conditions of appointment

The appointment will attract a daily fee of £375, payable either for attendance at committee meetings or for time spent on the work of the committee. A half-day rate is payable. Travelling expenses are payable within specified limits and there is provision for a modest subsistence allowance.

Amounts received by way of fees and expenses are potentially liable to income tax (or VAT) and the House of Lords may seek formal assurance that income tax and national insurance obligations are being met. The committee’s legal advisers are not employees of the House of Lords.

Applications

Interested candidates should send a CV and covering letter setting out their suitability for the post to:

The Clerk of the Constitution Committee
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW

and/or to: willotta@parliament.uk by or on Friday 27 February.

Interviews are likely to take place in early March. The appointment is subject to the approval of the committee, with the adviser beginning work when the committee is appointed in the new Parliament, likely to be in late May or early June.

About the committee

The House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution was appointed in 2001 to fulfil a recommendation of the Royal Commission on reform of the House of Lords that:

"The second chamber should establish an authoritative constitutional committee to act as a focus for its interest in and concern for constitutional matters."

The committee’s terms of reference are:

"to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming before the House; and to keep under review the operation of the constitution."

The committee set out its approach to this task in its first report, which is available via the committee website, along with other examples of the committee’s reports.

The current chairman of the committee is Lord Lang of Monkton.
For more information about the committee or the post of legal adviser please contact the clerk of the committee, Antony Willott, at willotta@parliament.uk or on 020 7219 1228.