Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1512

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

“(2A)

The Treasury shall direct the government department to publish online

resource accounts containing the following information in respect of that

department—

(a)	total annual expenditure;

(b)	headcount including agency and part-time workers;

(c)	costs per head of office space;

(d)	expenditure on consultants; and

(e)	such other relevant information as may from time to time be

required by Resolution of the House of Commons.”’.

Government spending website

Mr Francis Maude

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr David Gauke

NC40

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 is amended as follows.

(2)	After section 11 insert—

“11A	Creation of government expenditure website

(1)	The Treasury shall create, or cause to be created, a publicly searchable

website containing information about expenditure by all government

departments and executive agencies.

(2)	Expenditure which derives, directly or indirectly, from the Scottish

Consolidated Fund or the Welsh Consolidated Fund is not covered by this

Act.

(3)	Access to the information on the website must not be conditional on the

payment of any fee.

(4)	Information about expenditure by government departments or executive

agencies must be available on the website within 30 days of the date on

which the expenditure was incurred.

(5)	The information in subsection (4) must remain available for a period

ending five years after the end of the financial year in which the

expenditure was incurred.

(6)	In this Act “financial year” means the period of 12 months ending with

31 March in any year.

11B	Power of Treasury to extend website to expenditure by other bodies

(1)	The Treasury may by regulations require any body or person in the public

sector which receives funding directly or indirectly from a government

department or executive agency to provide information about its

expenditure for inclusion on the website in the same way as that required

for government departments or executive agencies.

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1513

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

(2)	A person or body is in the public sector for the purposes of this section if

the Office for National Statistics classifies it to the public sector in the

national accounts.

11C	Power of Treasury to specify content and availability of website

(1)	The Treasury may by regulations specify the content and availability of

the website required by section 1 including, but not limited to—

(a)	the times during which the website must be available for public

access;

(b)	the nature of the information that must be made available; and

(c)	the use of classification or coding systems in order to facilitate

analysis of the expenditure.

(2)	The regulations may require different information to be made available

for items of expenditure above one or more specified thresholds.

11D	Exempt information

(1)	This Act does not require information to be made available on the

website if its availability would, or would be likely to, prejudice—

(a)	national security;

(b)	the defence of the British Isles or of any colony;

(c)	the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces of the

Crown and any forces cooperating with those forces; or

(d)	relations between the United Kingdom and any other State,

international organisation or international court.

(2)	In this section—

“international court” means any international court which is not an

international organisation and which is established—

(a)	by a resolution of an international organisation of which the

United Kingdom is a member, or

(b)	by an international agreement to which the United Kingdom is a

party;

“international organisation” means any international organisation whose

members include any two or more States, or any organ of such an

organisation;

“State” includes the government of any State and any organ of its

government, and references to a State other than the United Kingdom

include references to any territory outside the United Kingdom.

11E	Data Protection Act

Nothing in this Act authorises the processing, obtaining, holding, use or

disclosure of information in contravention of the Data Protection Act

1998 (c. 29).

11F	Regulations

(1)	Any power of the Treasury to make regulations under sections 11B and

11C is exercisable by statutory instrument.

(2)	A statutory instrument containing regulations made by the Treasury

under section 11B (power of Treasury to extend the website to

expenditure by other bodies) must not be made unless a draft of the

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1514

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each

House of Parliament.

(3)	A statutory instrument containing regulations made under section 11C is

subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of

Parliament.”’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

1

Clause  21,  page  10,  leave out lines 28 and 29 and insert—

‘(c)	both Houses of Parliament have resolved that the treaty should be

ratified.’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

46

Clause  21,  page  10,  line  29,  at end insert ‘and

(d)	provided that the treaty is one that falls within subsection (2)(a) of this

section the text of the treaty has been approved by the electorate in a

national referendum held for the purpose of approving or disapproving

the treaty.

(2)    

(a)	Any treaty which abrogates the sovereignty of the United Kingdom

Parliament or alters to a significant extent the political or legal or

constitutional or economic relationship of the United Kingdom with the

European Union or its successor in title is a treaty to which the provisions

of section 21(1)(d) applies.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

2

Clause  21,  page  10,  line  30,  leave out subsection (2).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

3

Clause  21,  page  10,  line  32,  leave out subsection (3).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

4

Clause  21,  page  10,  line  34,  leave out subsection (4).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

5

Clause  21,  page  11,  line  3,  leave out subsection (5).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

6

Clause  21,  page  11,  line  5,  leave out subsection (6).

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1515

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

7

Clause  21,  page  11,  leave out lines 7 to 12 and insert—

‘( )	Where the House of Commons has resolved that a treaty should be ratified but the

House of Lords has not so resolved, and a period of 21 sitting days has elapsed

since the House of Commons resolved that the treaty should be ratified, any

member of the House of Commons may move that the treaty should be ratified

despite the failure of the House of Lords so to resolve, and if such a resolution is

carried by the House of Commons, the House of Lords shall be deemed for the

purposes of subsection (1)(c) to have resolved that the treaty should be ratified.

( )	The preceding subsection does not apply where the House of Lords has resolved

that the treaty should not be ratified (but defeat of a motion in favour of

ratification does not count by itself as a resolution that the treaty should not be

ratified).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

8

Clause  22,  page  11,  line  16,  leave out ‘mentioned in section 21 (1) (c)’ and insert

‘the period of 21 days mentioned in section 21 (the period after which the House of

Commons may pass a motion the effect of which is to deem that the House of Lords has

resolved that the treaty should be ratified)’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

9

Clause  23,  page  11,  line  26,  at beginning insert ‘Subject to the provisions of section

[Joint Committee of both Houses on Treaties],’

New Clause Relating to Part 2

Joint Committee of both Houses on Treaties

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

nc14

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	There shall be a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament known as the Joint

Committee on Treaty Ratification (hereinafter ‘the Joint Committee’).

(2)	The membership and procedures of the Joint Committee shall be for Parliament

to determine by agreement between the two Houses.

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1516

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

(3)	The Joint Committee shall be empowered to meet whether or not Parliament is

sitting.

(4)	Where a minister has made a determination under section 23 that a treaty should

be ratified without the requirements of section 21 being satisfied, the treaty may

not be ratified unless the Joint Committee has resolved that it should be ratified.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

34

Clause  27,  page  13,  line  36,  leave out ‘ignore’ and insert ‘the following shall be

disregarded’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

45

Clause  28,  page  14,  line  36,  at end add—

‘(g)	an expulsion or suspension resolution shall not have effect for any of the

purposes stated in that resolution unless the resolution was voted for by

at least one third of the excepted hereditary peers, and life peers then

being qualified to vote in the proceedings of the House of Lords.’.

Mr Douglas Hogg

44

Clause  29,  page  14,  line  38,  after second ‘peer’ insert ‘and who has been an

excepted hereditary peer or a life peer for not less than five years’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

60

Clause  29,  page  14,  line  39,  leave out ‘resign’ and insert ‘seek permanent leave of

absence’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

61

Clause  29,  page  14,  line  40,  leave out ‘resigns’ and insert ‘obtains such leave’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

62

Clause  29,  page  14,  line  40,  leave out ‘of the peer’s resignation’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

63

Clause  29,  page  14,  line  41,  leave out ‘resigning peer’ and insert ‘peer seeking

permanent leave’.

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1517

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Sir Patrick Cormack

64

Clause  29,  page  15,  line  3,  leave out ‘resigning’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

65

Clause  29,  page  15,  line  3,  at end insert ‘confirming the grant of permanent leave of

absence.’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

66

Clause  29,  page  15,  line  4,  leave out ‘resignation’ and insert ‘permanent leave’.

Sir Patrick Cormack

67

Clause  30,  page  15,  line  6,  leave out subsection (1).

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

26

Clause  31,  page  15,  line  36,  leave out subsection (2).

New Clauses Relating to Part 3

Commencement of Part 3

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

NC18

To move the following Clause:—

‘This Part shall have no effect until the Secretary of State certifies that legislation

is in force that provides for the democratic election of all the members of the

House of Lords, either thenceforth or according to an ascertainable timetable.’.

Committee of the whole House: 4 November 2009

1518

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Life peerages

Mr Douglas Hogg

NC25

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Life Peerages Act 1958, is amended is as follows.

(2)	In section 1(1), after “life”, insert “or such other period as may be specified in the

letters patent”.

(3)	In section 1(2), after “conferred” insert, “or at the end of such other period as may

have been specified in the letters patent”.’.

Members of House of Lords to be able to choose to be designated Senators

Andrew Mackinlay

NC44

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	A member of the House of Lords may choose to designate themselves as Senator

instead of their peerage title.

(2)	References to members of the House of Lords in existing legislation shall be read

as including Senators designated under this section.’.

Members of House of Lords to be able to choose to be designated MHL

Andrew Mackinlay

NC45

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	A member of the House of Lords may designate themselves by the initials MHL

instead of their peerage title.

(2)	References to members of the House of Lords in existing legislation shall be read

as including those designated MHL under this section.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

27

Clause  32,  page  16,  line  6,  leave out subsection (2).

---

Revised 4 November 2009