Conclusions and recommendations
In the longer term
1. We support the
suggestion that there should be joint meetings of the House Committee
and the Commission at least every six months, and recommend that
the Commission approach the House Committee. (Paragraph 128)
2. We encourage the
two Houses to begin the process of drawing up a phased medium
term programme towards a single bicameral services department
supporting the primary parliamentary purposes of each of the two
Houses. (Paragraph 130)
3. The delivery authority
for the Restoration and Renewal programme itself may be a model
for the provision of services to both Houses following R&R
and this should be considered as part of the review of shared
services suggested by the Clerk of the Parliaments. Legislation
might allow for the delivery authority's continuation, subject
to the agreement of both Houses, as a statutory body providing
certain defined services to both Houses on the basis of a series
of detailed Service Level Agreements. (Paragraph 134)
Action to be taken now
The Deputy Speakers
4. A modest first
step towards the developing of a Speakership team might be a widening
of the agenda of the daily conferences, perhaps initially just
on Mondays which both starts the working week and is the day on
which the House sits latest. (Paragraph 138)
House of Commons Commission
5. Our recommendations
for reform of the Commission focus first on ensuring that its
remit adequately covers those responsibilities which should properly
fall to the senior governance body and second on giving it the
capability to discharge those responsibilities. (Paragraph 139)
6. They are that:
a) the Commission should be additionally responsible
under statute for setting the strategic framework for the delivery
of services to Members, staff and the public, without prejudice
to the right of the House to control its own procedures;
b) its members should be:
— the Speaker, the Leader of the House
and the Shadow Leader of the House (as at present);
— four other Members, one from each of
the three largest parties represented in the House and one from
the remaining membership, elected for a Parliament by the whole
House;
— two external members appointed by fair
and open competition (and confirmed by motion in the House); and,
— two official members. (Paragraph 140)
7. If the Commission
is to take on the role of setting the strategic framework for
the delivery of services and then providing strategic oversight
of how they are delivered, it follows that its compass should
include all matters relating to the House administration including
those for which the Speaker has ex officio responsibility, such
as his role as 'householder' and in respect of Freedom of Information
policy. We recommend that the Speaker, as far as possible, consults
the Commission in the exercise of these responsibilities and powers.
(Paragraph 142)
8. We support the
idea of portfolio responsibilities for the elected members of
the Commission (Paragraph 143)
Finance and Services and Administration Committee
9. We recommend that
the Finance and Services Committee be renamed the Finance Committee
to distinguish its responsibilities from those of the Administration
Committee. We recommend that the Administration Committee membership
be no more than 11 Members. We recommend that the Chairs of both
the new Finance Committee and the Administration Committee be
drawn from the elected backbench members of the Commission. (Paragraph
145)
Management Board
10. Our proposal is
to replace the Management Board with an Executive Committee, which
would act as a sub-committee of the Commission. Its core membership
would be the official members of the Commission together with
the Director of Finance. Up to three other officials could be
added by the Commission. The official members would be the Director
General of the House of Commons and the Clerk of the House. The
Director General would chair the Executive Committee. (Paragraph
156)
11. The Director General
of the House of Commons would be a new post. S/he would be responsible
for the delivery of the resources needed to support the House
in its work, including its parliamentary and outward facing functions.
The Clerk would retain responsibility for the quality of support
for parliamentary functions, and for development of the skills,
experience and expertise to maintain the professionalism of the
parliamentary service. (Paragraph 157)
12. The priority must
be to reduce layers of bureaucracy not increase them. (Paragraph
159)
13. We fully support
the objective of securing a fully unified House service. (Paragraph
163)
The roles of Clerk and Chief Executive
14. We have therefore
concluded that the Clerk should continue to be the Head of the
House service (and thus formally the line manager of the Director
General of the House of Commons). However, since delivery will
be the responsibility of the Director General of the House of
Commons, s/he should chair the Executive Committee and take lead
responsibility for its agenda. Membership of the Commission will
also give him or her direct access to the Speaker and other Commission
members. S/he should be a very visible presence to Members. We
recommend that the Commission consider what arrangements might
be made to enable the Director General of the House of Commons
to be visibly present in his or her official capacity in the Chamber
when business relating to his or her responsibilities is under
consideration (Paragraph 166)
15. We recommend that
within six months of the appointment of the Director General of
the House of Commons, the Executive Committee submits proposals
to the Commission to restructure the senior management of the
House which should include reductions in the number of senior
posts both in DCCS and elsewhere. (Paragraph 171)
Delegation
16. The Executive
Committee must be an effective decision-making body. It must also
be at the head of a structure of delegations: delegations both
of authority and responsibility to key members of staff, who can
then be accountable for their exercise of those delegated powers.
(Paragraph 175)
17. Delegations should
be published so that Members, staff and others can see who is
responsible for what. They should be accompanied by clear timetables
for delivery. And in order to demonstrate that the responsibility
is accompanied by authority, the overall system of delegations
should be reviewed and approved annually by the Executive Committee.
(Paragraph 177)
Staff development
18. We recommend that
the Commission and the Executive Committee make a joint commitment
to the development of all staff and the active promotion of diversity
throughout the House service. In particular we recommend that
the opportunities for external secondments, to government departments
and to the wider public sector including local authorities, but
also to the private and third sectors, should be substantially
increased. It should be a strong expectation that members of staff
seeking promotion to the Senior Commons Service (SCS) should have
been encouraged to have undertaken at least one such secondment
and that SCS staff should undertake at least one secondment every
ten years. (Paragraph 179)
Implementation
19. Our recommendations
relating to the Clerk of the House should be implemented without
delay so that a permanent appointment can be made in time for
the start of the new Parliament. We therefore recommend that the
'paused' recruitment process be formally terminated. We believe
that this action should be taken immediately. Whether or not the
House endorses our proposals, it is clear that a new recruitment
process is needed. (Paragraph 186)
20. The transition
to the new arrangements we propose will not be immediate. The
Executive Committee cannot be formed until the Director General
of the House of Commons is in place, and the new Commission will
not be formed until after the General Election in May 2015. During
this transition period we recommend that:
a) The Commission continues in its current form
until the end of this Parliament but that the two non-executive
external members to the Management Board attend by invitation
with immediate effect;
b) The Management Board continues in its current
form until the Executive Committee can be formed;
c) Once appointed the Clerk of the House should
become the Head of the House Service but should no longer combine
that title with that of Chief Executive;
d) The Commission and Management Board must work
together to take forward issues that cannot wait for the new structure
to be in place which will include: commissioning and supporting
the implementation team, General Election issues, staff development,
financial planning and performance monitoring. (Paragraph 187)
21. Changes to the
membership of the House of Commons Commission will require legislation
to amend the 1978 Act. If the House agrees to our recommendations,
legislation should be passed in the current Parliament allowing
the new structure to take effect from the start of the new Parliament.
(Paragraph 188)
22. Following the
establishment of a new Commission as early as possible in the
new Parliament, the delegations granted by the Commission to the
Speaker (for appointments) and to the Management Board (to carry
out their work) should be reviewed and re-issued. (Paragraph 189)
23. We recommend that
the standing order changes in respect of the Finance and Administration
Committees be passed in this Parliament to be implemented from
the start of the new Parliament. (Paragraph 190)
Appointment process
24. The House's endorsement
of our report should be the trigger for the new process for the
appointment of the Clerk of the House. It should be conducted
with a view of drawing on best practice for public appointments,
leading to selection on merit by a fair, open and transparent
process. The full process, including the Job Description, Person
Specification, advertisement for the vacancy and membership of
the Appointment Panel, should be agreed by the full Commission.
(Paragraph 191)
25. Longlisting for
the post should be the responsibility of a Sifting Panel, against
the pre-determined attributes in the Job Description and Person
Specification. The composition of the Sifting Panel would be determined
by the Commission. It should be chaired by an independent non-executive
Chair (potentially someone with recent experience with the Civil
Service Commission, or similar) and there would be four other
Members of Parliament. The shortlisting and final interviews should
be conducted by an Appointment Panel, chaired by the Speaker,
and which would have three other Members of Parliament chosen
by the Commission, and a non-executive member and would be advised
by an external expert on parliamentary procedure. The independent
Chair of the Sifting Panel should be an observer. (Paragraph 192)
26. The appointment
of a Director General of the House of Commons should also proceed
as soon as possible and before the dissolution of Parliament.
The Clerk of the House does not need to be appointed before the
process commences but will need to be in place for the interview
process. (Paragraph 198)
27. The Director General
of the House of Commons recruitment should follow a similar sifting
process as for the Clerk of the House, but the Appointment Panel,
chaired by the Speaker, should include the Clerk of the House.
(Paragraph 199)
Implementation team
28. If the House agrees
to the proposals in this report, the Management Board working
with Commission should swiftly establish an implementation team
to work with them to deliver the detailed changes required. The
implementation team should be staffed with a mix of skills and
knowledge from across the House. (Paragraph 201)
29. We recommend that
the Procedure Committee consider how best to ensure that time
on the floor can be allocated in a timely manner to appropriate
House and Commission business. (Paragraph 200)
30. We recommend that
the Commission publish regular implementation updates on its website
and by means of written statements to the House and ensure progress
is tracked in the annual report for 2014/15 with a programme closure
report in 2015/16. (Paragraph 203)
31. Members of the
Finance and Administration Committees, House of Commons Commission
and Executive Board should undertake to hold regular staff events
and report on these in the annual report. (Paragraph 204)
32. Once appointed
the Clerk of the House should take forward immediately and lead
our recommendations for staff development given his or her clear
responsibilities in the new role description. (Paragraph 205)
33. The new leadership
team should be set the target of making the changes cost neutral
within one year of their implementation. (Paragraph 207)
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