Legislative Scrutiny: Digitalisation

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Wednesday 4th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

As for the possibility of greater joint working, the noble Lord may or may not know that one commitment that we have made is for the Clerk of the Parliaments here to explore possibilities with his counterpart in the Commons. Alongside that, if we were to decide to go further down that route, clearly we would need to make sure in due course that we were in a very clear position to negotiate so that this House is never subordinate to the other House.

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that one of the suggestions made by the noble Baroness does not require any great technical innovation or, indeed, easy attention to the changes in the computerisation of our activities: placing the Explanatory Notes alongside the appropriate clauses in draft Bills or, indeed, Bills that come before your Lordships’ House? I did that with a Bill two years ago with cross-party support and drew it to the attention of some of her noble colleagues, but it does not seem that the Government have caught up.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I think I am right in saying that the innovation that will start at the beginning of the next Parliament, which, as I described, allows us to see tracked changes at the end of the Committee stage, will also allow access to the Explanatory Notes alongside it. What the noble Lord is suggesting is in train if it has not yet been implemented.

Parliament: Conventions

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Monday 2nd March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I think I will leave it to the other party leaders in this House to decide whether they would like to write to Messrs Miliband and Clegg, but I agree with the noble Lord that the primacy of the House of Commons should never be in doubt. I agree with him that form should always follow function and I am clear that the purpose of this House is to give the public confidence in the laws that Parliament makes. It is an essential part of what we do and should inform what we do and how we do it, both now and in the future, however we may be composed.

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords, I—among others, obviously—represented your Lordships’ House on the Joint Committee that looked at the conventions of Parliament. However, that was nine years ago. I suggest to my noble friend that, since that time, the era of single-party government may well have disappeared for ever.

[Lord Tyler]

Therefore, these conventions, as set out in our report, are long past their sell-by date. Have any discussions taken place, between the parties in this House and with the other place, on setting up a similar committee after the general election to look at the new situation?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I disagree with my noble friend because I think we have proved in the course of this Parliament that these conventions have, as I say, stood the test of time. Therefore, I believe that it is unnecessary to constitute another committee and that the conventions will be adaptable throughout the next Parliament.

Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Tuesday 27th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, we have plenty of time. When two noble Lords stand up, perhaps one of them could be courteous to the other and decide to give way.

House of Lords: Governance

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Tuesday 20th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I think that my noble friend is referring to this House specifically. We are a self-regulating House, and we are all responsible for ensuring that we do what we exist to do, fulfil our purpose and serve the public correctly. As for accountability, that is quite clearly shared between me, the Lord Speaker and the Chairman of Committees.

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords, is it not obvious that we are in one sense not a self-regulating House, in that so much of our business is in fact decided between the two Front Benches, through the usual channels? Would now not be a good time, bearing in mind what has been undertaken at the other end of the building, to revisit the recommendations of the group led by the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, and, in particular, to look at the role of our Lord Speaker, who, after all, we elect to make sure that we are a self-regulating House—and, in particular, to look at her role, speechless, during Questions?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I do not know whether the noble Lord was present during our recent debate on procedures in this House, but I certainly made the point when responding to similar points raised during that debate that we are all accountable for ensuring that Question Time works efficiently. As for the responsibilities of the Lord Speaker, it was considered very carefully during this Parliament; there was a Division on the matter in this House, and the House decided that it would retain the role of Lord Speaker as it currently exists.

Implications of Devolution for England

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Tuesday 16th December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords, as the Statement reported, the Liberal Democrats made a positive contribution to the Command Paper before us, setting out clearly our plans to strengthen devolution within England, so that, for example, the people of Yorkshire and Cornwall could have proper assemblies with proper local legislative and fiscal powers, akin to those now available in Wales. Does my noble friend agree that the first priority should be decentralising and devolving power out of this building, and out of Whitehall, and then having a constitutional convention that could look at how different representative bodies in the UK could interact with each other in those new circumstances and with the UK Parliament? Only then will the true, consequent remaining extent of the “English question” be clear. In other words, does she not agree that we should devolve power radically within England first, and worry about rearranging the Westminster deckchairs later?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

This coalition Government have done a huge amount to decentralise within England. Much has been changed during our time in office. The key difference between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats in terms of further decentralisation is that we, the Conservatives, support giving far more accountability and authority to people wherever they live, but what we do not support is the delegation of lawmaking out of Parliament. We believe that there should be one place for lawmaking in England—and that is Parliament.

Local Authorities: Local Plans

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tyler]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps local communities may take where a local authority has not prepared an up-to-date local plan; and what powers Ministers possess to encourage timely development of such plans.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, local plans enable communities to participate in planning and are the best way to create great places and meet their needs. This Government have therefore put local plans at the heart of the planning system and will consult on introducing a statutory requirement on authorities to put plans in place. However, in the absence of a local plan, communities can still exercise a range of community rights, establish neighbourhood plans, and make their views known on all development proposed locally.

[Lord Tyler (LD)]

My Lords, I am delighted with my noble friend’s Answer—it is not often one can say that—but can she confirm that the Government recognise the urgency of this issue if there is to be a consistent pattern of district plans nationwide by the end of 2014? What steps can Ministers take now in advance of any statutory powers to ensure that a district such as the Cotswolds, which I know very well, of which 70% is in areas of outstanding beauty, does not drag its feet any longer? Does my noble friend agree that the absence of an up-to-date district local plan can make development control arbitrary, unfair and open to large-scale speculative development, threatening communities such as Tetbury and Chipping Camden?

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My noble friend makes some interesting points. My first response to him is to restate that local plans are indeed the best way for local people to decide how best to meet their own planning needs. The Government are supporting local authorities to publish and adopt their plans, because we recognise that this is a complex process. We have trebled the number of local authorities with adopted plans since 2010. However, as I have said, because this is so important, we will consult shortly on whether to make adopting a plan a statutory requirement and, if so, by when.

Protests: Tent Pitching

Debate between Baroness Stowell of Beeston and Lord Tyler

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

My Lords, I am responding to a Question about whether there should be emergency legislation to prevent people pitching tents in non-designated public spaces, but I understand the noble Lord’s point. The Government are very clear that people in all parts of the country are having to deal with wage freezes and wage cuts and that some are having to look for a new job. Those people are dealing with these difficulties and shouldering their share of responsibility and they are right to expect big banks and the big bosses in companies to take their fair share of responsibility as well.

[Lord Tyler]

My Lords, in congratulating my noble friend perhaps I may ask her to reiterate the Government’s decision to avoid a knee-jerk, piecemeal and authoritarian response on this issue. Given that the wisdom of our mutual friend Lord Cormack clearly trumps that of the Archbishop, the Bishop of London and the clergy of St Paul’s, perhaps I may also ask her to look particularly at the issue of Parliament Square. She will see some very sensible proposals which have come forward this very month from the Hansard Society—in a report entitled A Place for People: Proposals for Enhancing Visitor Engagement with Parliament’s Environs—that would enable us to take a sensible, long-range view and to deal comprehensively with the problems referred to.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

Of course we will look carefully at the report to which my noble friend refers. However, I stress that we passed an Act in July of this year that introduced new measures that will put an end to the encampments in Parliament Square. These measures will be commenced shortly and at that time we will, thankfully, bring an end to the disruption that so many people have criticised and rightly complained about over many years.