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A | |
Bill | |
To | |
amend the law in relation to the permitted number of Ministers of the Crown; | |
to limit the powers of Ministers to make certain appointments; to make | |
provision with respect to the parliamentary scrutiny of European Union | |
proposals and other subordinate legislation; and for connected purposes. | |
Be 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:— | |
Ministers of the Crown | |
1 Ministers of the Crown | |
(1) There shall be not more than 82 Ministers of the Crown at any one time, of | |
whom not more than 63 shall be Ministers of State or Parliamentary Secretaries. | |
(2) The Secretary of State may by order amend a maximum permitted number in | 5 |
subsection (1). | |
(3) A Minister's appointment shall lapse after a period of three months unless it | |
has been approved by the relevant select committee of the House of Commons. | |
Appointments by Ministers | |
2 Appointment of special advisers | 10 |
(1) There shall be not more than 38 special advisers at any one time, of whom not | |
more than 8 shall be expert advisers. | |
(2) The Secretary of State may by order amend a maximum permitted number in | |
subsection (1). | |
(3) A proposed appointment of a special adviser shall be approved by the relevant | 15 |
select committee of the House of Commons before it is made. | |
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(4) No Minister shall appoint a special adviser after the passing of this Act until | |
both Houses of Parliament have approved a code of conduct for special | |
advisers. | |
3 Appointments to non-departmental public bodies | |
(1) There shall be not more than 1,000 non-departmental public bodies at any one | 5 |
time to which appointments may be made by Ministers. | |
(2) A proposed appointment by a Minister to a non-departmental public body | |
shall be approved by the House of Commons before it is made. | |
(3) Approval under subsection (2) may be given by the relevant select committee | |
of the House of Commons where the House so decides. | 10 |
(4) An appointment by a Minister to a non-departmental public body --- | |
(a) shall expire after a period of two years if it has not previously ended; | |
(b) if renewed shall be treated for the purposes of this section as if it were | |
a new appointment. | |
(5) The Prime Minister shall --- | 15 |
(a) lay a report before Parliament; and | |
(b) make a statement in the House of Commons | |
on the exercise of Ministers' powers to make appointments to non- | |
departmental public bodies in respect of each calendar year not later than 31st | |
March in the following year. | 20 |
4 Appointments to task forces | |
(1) There shall be not more than 44 task forces at any one time to which | |
appointments may be made by Ministers. | |
(2) A proposed appointment by a Minister to a task force shall be approved by the | |
House of Commons before it is made. | 25 |
(3) Approval under subsection (2) may be given by the relevant select committee | |
of the House of Commons where the House so decides. | |
(4) An appointment by a Minister to a task force — | |
(a) shall expire after a period of two years if it has not previously ended; | |
(b) shall not be renewed after it has expired. | 30 |
(5) The Prime Minister shall— | |
(a) lay a report before Parliament; and | |
(b) make a statement in the House of Commons | |
on the exercise of Ministers' powers to make appointments to task forces in | |
respect of each six-month period ending 30th June or 31st December not later | 35 |
than the following 30th September or 31st March respectively. | |
5 Political balance of appointments | |
(1) This section and section 6 apply to appointments to a non-departmental public | |
body or to a task force. | |
(2) A Minister making an appointment which is within this section shall— | 40 |
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(a) require from the person whom it is proposed to appoint a declaration | |
of any political affiliation which that person may have; and | |
(b) ensure that the proportion of those persons appointed to the body to | |
which the appointment is proposed to be made who have made a | |
declaration under paragraph (a) that they have a political affiliation to | 5 |
the party which commands a majority in the House of Commons does | |
not exceed the proportional representation of that party in the House of | |
Commons as then constituted. | |
(3) It shall be an offence for a person who has a political affiliation and who is | |
required to declare it under subsection 2(a) not to declare that affiliation. | 10 |
(4) In this section "political affiliation" means— | |
(a) membership of, or | |
(b) active participation in the affairs of | |
a political party or of an organisation which is affiliated to a political party at | |
any time in the period of five years preceding the date of the proposed | 15 |
appointment. | |
6 Expenditure consequences of appointments | |
(1) Where a Minister— | |
(a) proposes to make an appointment which is within this section; and | |
(b) has reason to believe that that appointment will lead to an increase in | 20 |
real terms in expenditure out of the consolidated fund in the current | |
financial year over the previous financial year | |
he shall lay a report to that effect before the House of Commons. | |
(2) A proposed appointment which is the subject of a report under subsection (1) | |
shall not be made unless the report has been approved by resolution of the | 25 |
House of Commons. | |
7 Appointment of press officers | |
No Minister shall appoint as a press officer in the public service a person who | |
is not a civil servant. | |
8 Other appointments by Ministers | 30 |
Any proposed appointment by a Minister of a person who is not a civil servant | |
to a position in the public service which is not covered by the provisions of | |
section 2, 3, 4 or 7 shall be approved by the relevant select committee of the | |
House of Commons before it is made. | |
9 Liaison Committee | 35 |
The Liaison Committee of the House of Commons shall decide which is the | |
relevant committee for the purposes of section 1(3), 2(3), 3(3), 4(3) and 8; and if | |
the Liaison Committee decides that more than one committee is relevant the | |
approval of each such committee shall be required. | |
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Subordinate legislation | |
10 Passage of subordinate legislation | |
(1) Where by any Act it is provided that a statutory instrument may not be made | |
or shall not come into force unless it has been approved by resolution of either | |
House of Parliament, such a resolution shall be deemed to be disagreed to if in | 5 |
any division on the question on a motion for such a resolution, fewer than two | |
thirds of those voting vote in the affirmative. | |
(2) Where by any Act it is provided that a statutory instrument shall be subject to | |
annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, such a | |
resolution shall be deemed to be agreed to if in any division on the question on | 10 |
a motion for such a resolution, not fewer than one third of those voting vote in | |
the affirmative. | |
(3) Where an enforceable Community right within the meaning of section 2 of the | |
European Communities Act 1972 (c. 68) --- | |
(a) has direct legislative effect within any part of the United Kingdom; and | 15 |
(b) is not otherwise subject to approval by either House of Parliament | |
then notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Treaty or in any other | |
enactment that proposal shall not have effect unless it is first approved by | |
resolution of both Houses of Parliament. | |
(4) A resolution under subsection (3) shall be deemed to be disagreed to if in any | 20 |
division on the question on a motion for such a resolution, fewer than two | |
thirds of those voting vote in the affirmative. | |
General | |
11 Orders | |
The power to make an order under this Act is exerciseable by statutory | 25 |
instrument; but no such order is to be made unless a draft has been laid before | |
and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament. | |
12 Interpretation | |
In this Act — | |
“civil servant” has the same meaning as in section 68 of the | 30 |
Superannuation Act 1965 (c. 74); | |
“expert adviser” means a special adviser who is not a political adviser; | |
“Minister” means a Minister of the Crown; | |
“Minister of State” and “Parliamentary Secretary” have the same | |
meanings as in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 | 35 |
(c. 24); | |
“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the | |
Crown Act 1975 (c. 26); | |
“non-departmental body” means a publicly-funded body— | |
(a) which is not a government department; and | 40 |
(b) to which appointments are made directly by a Minister; | |
“public service” has the same meaning as in the Civil Service Order in | |
Council 1995; | |
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“special adviser” means a person appointed by a Minister — | |
(a) to a situation in Her Majesty’s Home Civil Service under the | |
exemption applied by Article 3(2) of the Civil Service Order | |
1995 as amended; or | |
(b) to an equivalent situation in another public service; | 5 |
“task force” means a publicly-funded non-statutory body — | |
(a) which is composed partly of persons who are Crown servants | |
and partly of persons who are not Crown servants; and | |
(b) to which appointments are made directly by a Minister or | |
subject to a Minister’s approval. | 10 |
13 Short title | |
This Act may be cited as the Government Powers (Limitations) Act 2003. | |
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