A
bill
to
Make provision for the appointment of a Commission to advise the Prime Minister on recommendations to the Crown for the creation of life peerages; to establish principles to be followed in making recommendations; and for connected purposes.
B e it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
There is to be a House of Lords Appointments Commission (“the
Commission”) to advise the
Prime Minister on recommendations to the Crown
for the creation of peerages under the Life
Peerages Act 1958.
Before recommending any person to the Crown for a peerage, the Prime
Minister must refer
the name of that person to the Commission.
The Prime Minister may not recommend a person to the Crown for a peerage
until such time
as the Commission has advised the Prime Minister as to
whether the person meets the criteria
for the conferment of a peerage specified
in
section 7
.
In determining whether to recommend to the Crown the creation of peerages,
the Prime
Minister must have regard to the following principles—
not less than 20 per cent of the membership of the House of Lords
shall consist of
members who are independent of any registered
political party,
no one party may have an absolute majority of members in the House
of Lords, and
the membership of the House of Lords must be no larger than that of
the House of
Commons.
For the purpose of determining the membership specified in
subsection (1)
(a)
, a person is deemed to be independent of any registered political party if in
the two years prior to his or her nomination for a peerage that person—
was not a member of a registered political party,
had not given public support, by way of public speaking or
appearance, to a registered
political party, and
had not made a financial donation to a registered political party.
In order to achieve the principle specified in
subsection (1)
(c)
, the Prime
Minister must, other than under the conditions specified in
subsection (4)
, have regard to recommendations made by the Commission for reducing the
size of the membership of the House.
Following the appointment by the Crown of a Prime Minister at the start of
a Parliament, where that person replaces one who led a political party other
than the one headed by the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister may
recommend peerages on one occasion only without reference to the principle
specified in
subsection (1)
(c)
, but the number must be no more than 40.
The Commission must consist of nine members.
The members of the Commission, including the Chair, must be nominated
jointly by the
Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker.
In making nominations under
subsection (2)
, the Speaker
and the Lord Speaker
may consult such other persons or bodies as they deem appropriate.
In making nominations, the Speaker and the Lord Speaker must have regard
to the need to
ensure that, of members affiliated with registered political
parties, the Commission is
politically balanced.
At least four members of the Commission must be independent of any
registered political
party, including the Chair of the Commission.
At least four members of the Commission must be Privy Counsellors.
No-one may be nominated under
subsection (5)
if at any time
in the preceding
two years that person—
has been a member of a registered political party,
has given public support, by way of public speaking or appearance,
to a registered
political party, or
has made a financial donation to any registered political party.
No-one may be nominated who is a Minister of the Crown or holder of a
national office in
any registered political party.
Following nomination by the Speaker and the Lord Speaker under
subsection
(2)
, the members may be appointed by
the Crown.
Except as provided for in
subsection (11)
, a member of
the Commission may
serve for a non-renewable term of seven years.
A member of the Commission may be removed by the Crown on an address
by both Houses of
Parliament.
Except as provided for in this Part, the Commission may determine its own
rules and
procedures.
Persons proposed by the Commission under
subsection (1)
must have no
party-political
alignment.
To qualify for the purposes of
subsection (2)
a person must
not in the past
two years—
have been a member of a registered political party,
have given public support, by way of public speaking or appearance,
to a registered
political party, or
have made a financial donation to a registered political party.
For the purpose of proposing names under
subsection (1)
, the Commission
may consider
persons nominated by members of the public.
Any person whose name is considered by the Commission under
sections
2
(1)
and
6
(1)
must comply with the
criteria specified in
this section
.
The principal criteria for the recommendation for a peerage are—
conspicuous merit, and
a willingness and capacity to contribute to the work of the House of
Lords.
The Commission may propose additional criteria as it deems appropriate.
In proposing additional criteria, the Commission must have regard to the
diversity of the
United Kingdom population.
Criteria proposed by the Commission under
subsection (3)
must be laid before
both Houses
of Parliament and are subject to annulment in pursuance of a
resolution of either House of
Parliament.
Criteria proposed under
subsection (3)
may not be
varied other than on a
proposal made by the Commission and subject to the procedure
specified in
subsection (5)
.
The Commission may issue guidelines setting out how it will interpret and
apply the
criteria established under
section 7
.
The guidelines must be publicised by the Commission in such manner as it
deems
appropriate.
The guidelines may be reviewed as the Commission deems appropriate.
Where names are submitted to the Commission by the Prime Minister acting
as a party
leader, or on behalf of leaders of other political parties who have
been invited to propose
people for the conferment of peerages, the leader
responsible for each proposal must inform
the Commission of the procedure
and criteria adopted by the party for the purposes of
selecting the name for
submission.
Leaders of political parties submitting information to the Commission under
subsection (1)
must supply such other
information as may be requested by
the Commission.
The Prime Minister, where acting as Prime Minister and not as a party leader
in making a
recommendation for a peerage, must supply such information
as may be requested by the
Commission.
This Act comes into force at the end of the period of three months beginning
with the day
on which this Act is passed.
This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This Act may be cited as the House of Lords (Peerage Nominations) Act 2022.
A
bill
to
Make provision for the appointment of a Commission to advise the Prime Minister on recommendations to the Crown for the creation of life peerages; to establish principles to be followed in making recommendations; and for connected purposes.
Ordered to be Printed, .
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