Found: Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain to exercise their ceremonial functions should the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain to exercise their ceremonial function should the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: We started with whether, in coming to the decision on 15 the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: We started with whether, in coming to the decision on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, the

Found: This includes leading for the Government during the passage o f the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: This includes leading for the Government during the passage of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: (b)To advise whether the “The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill” raises any issues of constitutional

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which current members of the House of Lords will be affected by the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill as currently drafted.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill delivers the manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. As a result of the Bill, the 92 seats currently reserved for hereditary peers will be removed. The Bill will remove the remaining hereditary peers at the end of the Parliamentary session in which it receives Royal Assent. A list of the current hereditary peers can be found below

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to expand the grounds under which a peerage can be revoked to include crimes involving (a) sexual offences and (b) abuse of power.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Currently, a member of the House of Lords automatically ceases to be a member if they are convicted of a criminal offence and given a custodial sentence of more than one year. Additionally, the House may expel members who have breached the Code of Conduct by approving such a sanction as may be recommended by the House of Lords Conduct Committee.

Revoking peerages requires bespoke primary legislation. The Government is focused on delivering its manifesto commitments on House of Lords reform, including strengthening the circumstances in which disgraced members can be removed from the House.

The manifesto was clear that, as an immediate reform, it would introduce legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and will soon enter Committee stage in the House of Lords.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reform the process for the forfeiture of peerages where a peer has been convicted of serious crimes.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Currently, a member of the House of Lords automatically ceases to be a member if they are convicted of a criminal offence and given a custodial sentence of more than one year. Additionally, the House may expel members who have breached the Code of Conduct by approving such a sanction as may be recommended by the House of Lords Conduct Committee.

Revoking peerages requires bespoke primary legislation. The Government is focused on delivering its manifesto commitments on House of Lords reform, including strengthening the circumstances in which disgraced members can be removed from the House.

The manifesto was clear that, as an immediate reform, it would introduce legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and will soon enter Committee stage in the House of Lords.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of legislation for revoking peerages in cases involving serious criminal convictions.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Currently, a member of the House of Lords automatically ceases to be a member if they are convicted of a criminal offence and given a custodial sentence of more than one year. Additionally, the House may expel members who have breached the Code of Conduct by approving such a sanction as may be recommended by the House of Lords Conduct Committee.

Revoking peerages requires bespoke primary legislation. The Government is focused on delivering its manifesto commitments on House of Lords reform, including strengthening the circumstances in which disgraced members can be removed from the House.

The manifesto was clear that, as an immediate reform, it would introduce legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and will soon enter Committee stage in the House of Lords.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the constitutional implications of the reforms in the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill for (1) the continued validity of the Salisbury-Addison Convention, and (2) the conventions of the House of Lords in not rejecting secondary legislation.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The conventions of the House are unaffected by the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. The Bill fulfills a manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. As such, the Bill clearly engages the Salisbury-Addison convention.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enact reforms to the House of Lords other than those set out in the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government’s manifesto set out a number of commitments to reform of the House of Lords. The manifesto was clear that, as an immediate reform, it would introduce legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and had its first reading in the House of Lords on 13 November 2024.

This is the first step in reform of the House of Lords and it is right that the Government focuses on completing the passage of this Bill.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the projected cost to the public purse is of removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill is not about financial savings but is concerned with removing the outdated and indefensible right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) placing the House of Lords Appointment Commission (HOLAC) on a statutory footing, (b) providing HOLAC with a right of veto where candidates are not deemed fit and proper, (c) requiring the publication of supporting rationale for HOLAC decision making and (d) requiring increased scrutiny of proposed appointments where candidates have (i) acted as a fundraiser for and (ii) made sizeable financial contributions to a political party.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government committed in its manifesto to reform the process of appointments to the House of Lords to ensure the quality of new appointments and to seek to improve the national and regional balance of the second chamber and is actively considering how this can be achieved.

This Government has also already introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. This Bill delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to bring about an immediate reform by removing the right of the remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

Found: effectively suspended by resolution of the House on 25 July 2024. 544 If enacted, the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill

Found: Committee HL Paper 46 8th Report of Session 2024–25 Football Governance Bill [HL] House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill