House of Lords: Domestic Committees

Baroness Doocey Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Doocey (LD)]

My Lords, I was very pleased to serve on the Leader’s Group on Governance. It is a great tribute to the superb chairing skills of the noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, that any observer attending our meetings would never have realised that all the members sitting round the table were from different political persuasions because we operated very much as a close-knit team all rowing in the same direction.

I will confine my remarks to recommendations 3 to 5, which deal with the domestic committees. The evidence that we received, from a wide range of individuals, had a common theme in lamenting the inadequacies of the current committee structure. Recommendation 3 puts the present position pithily:

“The current governance arrangements do not meet standards of best practice”.

For me, the current position was best summed up by a senior Member of the House who said in his evidence that,

“the remits of the domestic committees are grossly unhelpful. It is possible for two committees to be operating legitimately within their own sphere of influence and to be pulling in different directions”.

I experienced this first-hand when I served on the Refreshment Committee for nearly three years, although it seemed more like 30. It was quite unlike any private or public sector committee that I had ever experienced. The role of its members was seen as to note and to consider but seldom to take decisions. I recently looked back at my Refreshment Committee papers and found that out of 20 that I reviewed at random, just four asked the committee to make a decision. In addition, on the occasions when decisions were made, they could be overturned by other committees that had had no involvement in the discussions that led to the original decision. We received evidence of similar experiences from members of other committees. A by-product of the frustration that that causes is a lack of collective responsibility by Members for decisions taken on the committees on which they sit. With responsibility so diffused, it is hard to get anyone to own difficult decisions when they are taken.

The structure that we are proposing should ensure that all parts of the House and the administration talk to each other and work as a close-knit team, that decisions have widespread support in the House, and that Members who serve on the domestic committees will be have a more effective voice. We believe that the clearer terms of reference for the two committees will result in many more Members wishing to serve. The job should be seen as requiring just as much time and dedication as serving on a policy-based Select Committee. There will need to be much greater emphasis on reporting back and on ensuring that those serving on committees consult their colleagues in order to represent their views. We have suggested that the committees themselves should determine how this is done, but communication is crucial.

Our key concern throughout has been to recommend a structure that will be effective, transparent and accountable. We seek a 21st-century system in which staff are empowered and supported to take what are sometimes difficult decisions and make difficult recommendations, with clear, cohesive Member oversight. Our recommendations fulfil these criteria, and I strongly commend them to the House.