Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 16 September (HL2734), why the decision to change Table Clerks' uniform was made without a report from the Procedure and Privileges Committee and the agreement of the House, as was the case when the Lord Chancellor's uniform was changed in 1998.

The uniform for Table Clerks is not a matter covered by the Standing Orders agreed by the House, or the Companion to the Standing Orders, which the Procedure and Privileges Committee oversees on behalf of the House.

The changes made to the Lord Chancellor’s uniform in 1998 were a matter for the Procedure and Privileges Committee and the House, and the Lord Speaker’s uniform is covered by the Companion to the Standing Orders. Having reviewed Procedure and Privilege Committee papers dating back to the 1970s, there is no record of decisions about uniform for Table Clerks being taken by that Committee. The Clerk of the Parliaments, as the statutory employer, is responsible for these decisions, though the Clerk of the Parliaments is of course aware that these matters are of wider concern to members of the House and has emphasised this in recent discussions we have had on this matter.