Call for evidence on constitution proposals

Joint committee of Parliament seeks views on government's Constitutional Renewal Bill

News, 13 May 2008

The House of Commons/House of Lords Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has published a call for evidence to inform its report on the bill.

The government claims that the draft bill will "rebalance power between Parliament and the government and give Parliament more ability to hold the government to account".

Among other measures it plans to:

increase the accountability of the civil service to Parliament and require a code of conduct for ministerial special advisers;
reassert the right to protest outside Parliament without hindrance;
reform the role of the Attorney General;
reduce the role of the executive in judicial appointments in England & Wales;
make new provisions concerning the approval of treaties; and
introduce a resolution procedure for the conferring of war powers on the Prime Minister (perhaps acting with other ministers).

The committee has published a list of questions on which it would particularly welcome views as it seeks to assess how effective the bill will be in achieving its aims. Its members include Scottish MPs Mark Lazarowicz (Labour) and Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat), and the Conservative peer and former Lord Advocate Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC.

Michael Foster MP, chairman of the Joint Committee, said: “This committee has been formed to look in detail at what will be a very significant bill for the future relationship between Parliament and government.

“The Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill has been heralded by the government as a chance for Parliament to hold them to account more effectively and we will seek to find out how this can be achieved.

“We will look at the bill in its entirety and are interested in receiving evidence from any interested parties who can give us their insights into how the proposals in the draft bill will affect Parliament's ability to scrutinise the government.”

The draft bill and the call for evidence can be viewed via this link. The closing date for the submission of written evidence is Thursday 12 June 2008. The committee is due to report to both Houses by 18 July.