Conclusions and recommendations
Our work during the 2010 Parliament
1. Our
partnership with the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies
at King's College London on the possibility of codifying—or
not codifying—the UK constitution could be a model for other
committees wishing to develop a sustained programme of work in
a particular policy area. (Paragraph 11)
2. We have concluded
that the current level of voter engagement in the UK is not satisfactory,
and that urgent action needs to be taken in order to pre-empt
a crisis of democracy. We have recommended that political parties
include plans, in their manifestos for the 2015 general election,
for improving voter engagement. It is to be hoped that the next
Parliament will have occasion to scrutinise a number of proposals
recommended by this Committee, if and when they are brought forward
by the Government. (Paragraph 16)
3. We have consistently
questioned the usefulness of the Government's register of lobbyists,
and also raised concerns about the impact of new rules around
third party spending during election periods contained in the
Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union
Administration Act 2014. If there is a desire to increase transparency
and reform political spending, the focus of reform should be on
the funding of political parties, an area which we were disappointed
to see no progress on over the course of this Parliament. (Paragraph
23)
4. Although it is
unambiguously the case that a convention has developed whereby
the House of Commons should have the opportunity to hold a debate
on conflict decisions before action is taken, unless there is
an emergency, there is still no formal process through which the
House of Commons is consulted, or legal requirement for consultation
to occur. We have consistently called for this convention to be
formalised, and for the Government to explain how it would fulfil
the Foreign Secretary's statement of March 2011 that the Government
would "enshrine in law for the future the necessity of consulting
Parliament on military action". The Government has yet to
respond to our latest report on this subject. We recommend
that the relevant Committee in the next Parliament consider how
the convention on consulting Parliament on decisions regarding
armed conflict has developed over the 2010 Parliament, and report
on how, if at all, the convention should be formalised. (Paragraph
29)
5. We recommend
that the relevant select committee consider, when the Electoral
Commission publishes its report in June 2015, the adequacy of
the transition to Individual Electoral Registration at that point,
and take a view on the appropriateness or otherwise of any steps
taken by the Government to bring forward the end date for transitional
arrangements to Individual Electoral Registration.
(Paragraph 37)
6. We have made every
effort to have a constructive relationship with the Government,
and particularly the Cabinet Office, during the 2010 Parliament.
However, our ability to effectively consider political and constitutional
reform has been restricted by the Government's failure to either
consult fully on or publish in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny
proposals for political and constitutional reform. We recommend
that the next administration commit early in the next Parliament
to making pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills a standard part of
the legislative process. (Paragraph 48)
7. The Electoral Commission
has told us that our scrutiny of its work during this Parliament
has been "a very important point of accountability".
It is important that this is not lost during the next Parliament,
particularly given the ongoing transition to Individual Electoral
Registration. We recommend that in the next Parliament a Committee
take responsibility for scrutinising the work of the Electoral
Commission, and particularly the ongoing transition to IER. This
should supplement the role of the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral
Commission. (Paragraph 50)
Impact and support for the House
8. Our
experience is that effectively planning a Committee's programme
over the course of a Parliament—whilst allowing for the
flexibility which is necessary to scrutinise emerging issues—has
substantially increased our ability to both influence the Government's
programme of political and constitutional reform, and also undertake
substantial projects of our own. This working method has been
made possible by the fixing of the term of a Parliament, which
provides some security against Committee work being disrupted
by an early general election. (Paragraph 57)
Engagement and innovation
9. We
have been particularly proactive at involving the wider public
and organisations other than the "usual suspects" with
our work. This has been beneficial both to our scrutiny of the
Government's programme of political and constitutional reform,
but has also helped to achieve the broader goal of better engaging
the public with Parliament and issues of constitutional significance.
(Paragraph 61)
We consider that there is greater scope for select
committees to consult the public on matters which directly affect
them, such as voter engagement and the health of our democracy.
For some inquiries, seeking the views of the public through non-traditional
means, such as surveys and online discussion, may ensure that
a greater and more representative range of views is taken into
account when a committee formulates its recommendations to Government.
We hope that the new ways of working we have taken forward with
a view to increasing engagement will facilitate those committees
which wish to make similar efforts in the next Parliament. (Paragraph
62)
Scrutiny of political and constitutional reform in
the next Parliament
10. This
Committee was established to consider political and constitutional
reform for the lifetime of the present Parliament. The establishment,
or re-establishment, of a committee with an express remit to examine
such issues in the 2015 Parliament will depend on the will of
the House which is to be elected on 7 May. Should the next
Government plan to take forward constitutional reform, we strongly
recommend that a select committee be established to examine the
Government's proposals, to keep the progress of any political
and constitutional reform under regular review, and to continue
the work this Committee has undertaken. If such a committee is
not established, we recommend that our work on political and constitutional
reform, and the continuing debate on the UK's constitution, be
taken up by the select committee with a remit to examine the work
of the Government department with responsibility for constitutional
policy. (Paragraph 65)
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