House of Lords Amendments - House of Lords Bill

House of Lords Bill - Amendments to be debated in the House of Lords - continued	House of Lords
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	After Clause 2
	BY THE LORD CLIFFORD OF CHUDLEIGH
22	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Section 1 shall not apply in respect of any proceedings in the House of Lords on a constitutional bill or a bill including constitutional provisions, and any person who was the holder of a hereditary peerage and who was entitled to a writ of summons to attend that House on the day before this Act comes into force shall continue to be entitled to sit and vote on such proceedings.")	Constitutional bills: voting rights of hereditary peers.
23	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Any person who was the holder of a hereditary peerage and who was entitled to a writ of summons to attend the House of Lords on the day before this Act came into force shall continue to be entitled to sit, but not to vote, in any proceedings of that House or of a committee of that House, subject to section (Constitutional bills: voting rights of hereditary peers).")	Hereditary peers: sitting rights.
	BY THE LORD COLERAINE
24	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Notwithstanding sections 1 and 2, at any one time no more than 90 peers by succession shall be entitled to sit but not vote in the House of Lords by virtue of this Act in accordance with Standing Orders which may be made in anticipation of the enactment or commencement of this section.")	Peers by succession to sit but not vote.
	BY THE LORD STRATHCLYDE THE LORD MACKAY OF ARDBRECKNISH THE LORD MACKAY OF DRUMADOON THE LORD KINGSLAND
25*	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" .--(1) There shall be an Appointments Commission ("the Commission") which shall make proposals to the Prime Minister for recommendations to Her Majesty for the conferment of life peerages in accordance with the Life Peerages Act 1958. (2) The Commission shall be an advisory non-departmental public body and shall-- (a) be appointed in accordance with the rules of the Commissioner for Public Appointments and may seek his advice about best practice in attracting and assessing potential nominees; (b) operate an open and transparent nominations system for peers not belonging to, or recommended by, any political party ("the Cross Bench peers"); (c) actively invite nominations by the general public and encourage nominations from professional associations, charities and other public bodies that it judges appropriate; (d) publish criteria under which it will determine a candidate's suitability for nomination; (e) reinforce the present function of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee in vetting the suitability of all nominations to life peerages by the political parties; and (f) scrutinise all candidates for life peerages on the grounds of propriety in relation to political donations, as proposed in the 5th Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. (3) The Commission shall appoint its own Chairman. (4) It shall, at least every 6 months, and at most every year, make proposals to the Prime Minister for nomination as Cross Bench peers, sufficient at least to fill any vacancies among Cross Bench peers that may occur through death, disqualification or a decision to join a political party represented in the House of Lords. (5) The Prime Minister may not refuse to submit to Her Majesty the names of those recommended as Cross Bench peers by the Commision, and shall not seek to influence such nominations, save in exceptional circumstances, such as those endangering the security of the realm. (6) The Commission, in considering nominations as Cross Bench peers, shall not give any additional weight to recommendations from the Prime Minister or the Leaders of other political parties. (7) Following the passing of this Act the Commission shall make a report annually to Parliament on the recommendations made to Her Majesty by the Prime Minister for the conferment of life peerages, in which it will declare if the following criteria are being observed, namely that-- (a) no one political party commands a majority in the House of Lords;
46	(b) the Government has broad parity of numbers with the main opposition party; and
	(c) the proportion of the Cross Bench peers to the total number of life peers in the House remains as it was on the day before the passing of this Act. (8) The Commission shall consist of eight members of the Privy Council, of whom four shall be appointed by a special Commission of the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords. (9) One Commissioner shall be appointed from each of the three largest parties in the House of Commons on the nomination of the Leader of each such party, and one shall be appointed from the Cross Bench peers on the nomination of the Convenor of the Cross Bench Peers.")	Appointments Commission.
	BY THE LORD COLERAINE [As an amendment to amendment 25]
26*	Line 46, after ("party;") insert-- ("( ) the proportion of peers of the second opposition party to peers of the main opposition party remains the same as the proportion of life peers of the second opposition party to life peers of the main opposition party was on the day before the passing of this Act;")
	BY THE LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY THE EARL OF CAITHNESS
27	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" .--(1) There shall be an Appointments Commission which shall-- (a) make life peerage recommendations to Her Majesty, and (b) approve proposals for life peerage recommendations made by any other person. (2) In this section "a life peerage recommendation" is a recommendation to Her Majesty for the conferment of a life peerage in accordance with the Life Peerages Act 1958. (3) In making, or approving a proposal for, a life peerage recommendation, the Appointments Commission shall be guided by the following principles relating to the membership of the House of Lords-- (a) no one political party should have a majority; (b) there should be broad parity between the numbers of government peers and those of the main opposition party peers; (c) there should be broad parity between the numbers of government peers and numbers of Cross Bench peers; (d) more than half the members of the House of Lords, whether government peers, opposition peers or Cross Bench peers, should have experience of and expertise in areas other than (or in addition to) politics. (4) Membership of the Commission shall not exceed 10 but subject to that the Secretary of State shall make regulations-- (a) providing for the appointment of the members of the Appointment Commission, for procedural matters relating to the functions of the Commission and for the members' remuneration and expenses; and (b) restricting the making of life peerage recommendations to Her Majesty by persons other than the Commission unless the proposal for the recommendation has been approved by the Commission.")	Appointments Commission (No. 2).
	BY THE LORD STRATHCLYDE THE LORD MACKAY OF ARDBRECKNISH THE LORD MACKAY OF DRUMADOON THE LORD KINGSLAND
28	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" .--(1) Nothing in section 1 of this Act shall be taken to prevent sixteen peers in the peerage of Scotland from sitting and voting in the House of Lords. (2) The said sixteen peers shall be elected by the peers of Scotland, by open election and plurality of votes, from amongst their number, to sit and vote in the House of Lords in each Session of Parliament. (3) In the case of the death or legal incapacity of any of the said sixteen peers, the peers of Scotland shall elect another of their number in place of the said peer.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers.
29	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Standing Orders of the House shall provide that on any day when the House sits for public business the membership of the House includes at least sixteen peers who are domiciled in Scotland.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 2).
30	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Standing Orders of the House shall ensure that on the first day of every Session of Parliament the membership of the House of Lords includes at least sixteen peers who are domiciled in Scotland.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 3).
31	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Standing Orders of the House shall provide that on any day when the House sits for public business the membership of the House includes at least sixteen peers who are resident in the United Kingdom and Scotland is the part of the United Kingdom with which they have the closest connection.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 4).
32	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Standing Orders of the House shall provide that on the first day of every Session of Parliament the membership of the House of Lords includes at least sixteen peers who are resident in the United Kingdom and Scotland is the part of the United Kingdom with which they have the closest connection.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 5).
	BY THE LORD GRAY
33	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . To continue the effect of Article XXII of the Treaty of Union of 1707 Standing Orders shall provide that the minimum number of persons domiciled in Scotland and entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords shall be sixteen; but Ministers of the Crown and persons appointed under the provisions of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 shall not count towards that minimum.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 6).
34	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . To continue the effect of Article XXII of the Treaty of Union of 1707 Standing Orders shall provide that the minimum number of persons domiciled in Scotland and entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords shall be twenty four; but Ministers of the Crown and persons appointed under the provisions of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 shall not count towards that minimum.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 7).
35	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Notwithstanding section 2(2) a person may be excepted from section 1 in accordance with Standing Orders for the purpose of fulfilling section (Membership of House of Lords: Scottish Peers (No. 6)).")	Exception from section 1: supplementary.
36	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . Notwithstanding section 2(2) a person may be excepted from section 1 in accordance with Standing Orders for the purpose of fulfilling section (Membership of House of Lords: Scottish Peers (No. 7)).")	Exception from section 1: supplementary (No. 2).
37	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" .--(1) Notwithstanding section 2(2) sixteen Peers of Scotland only domiciled in Scotland shall be excepted from section 1; but anyone excepted under section 2(2) shall not count towards that number. (2) The sixteen shall be elected for a Parliament by all peers domiciled in Scotland who are, or who would but for the passage of this Act have been, entitled to receive a writ of summons to sit and vote in the House of Lords. (3) In the event of a vacancy occurring due to the death or disqualification of a person elected under subsection (2), a by-election shall be held.")	Membership of House of Lords: Scottish peers (No. 8).
38	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . In section 4 of the Peerage Act 1963, at the beginning insert "Subject to section (Membership of House of Lords: Scottish Peers (No. 6)) of the House of Lords Act 1999,".")	Scottish representative peers.
39	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" . In section 4 of the Peerage Act 1963, at the beginning insert "Subject to section (Membership of House of Lords: Scottish Peers (No. 7)) of the House of Lords Act 1999,".")	Scottish representative peers (No. 2).
	BY THE LORD NORTHBOURNE
40	Insert the following new Clause--
	(" .--(1) From the date of the coming into force of section 1 of this Act the Prime Minister shall within two months of his commencement of each session of Parliament ensure (if necessary by recommending the creation of additional life peers) that the number of independent peers entitled to speak and to vote in the Second Chamber is at least as great as the number who take the whips of the largest single party. (2) For the purpose of this section "independent peers" shall mean any member who is entitled to speak and to vote in the Second Chamber and who does not owe allegiance to, is not a member of, and does not take the whip of any political party.")	Independent peers.
	Clause 3
	BY THE LORD TREFGARNE THE EARL OF NORTHESK
41	Page 1, leave out lines 21 and 22 and insert-- ("A person shall not be disqualified for--")
	BY THE EARL FERRERS
42	Page 1, line 21, leave out ("by virtue of") and insert ("because he holds")
	BY THE LORD TREFGARNE THE EARL OF NORTHESK
43	Page 1, line 24, at end insert-- ("if he is a Peer of the Realm who is disqualified by this Act for attending, sitting or voting in the House of Lords.")
	BY THE LORD STRATHCLYDE THE LORD MACKAY OF ARDBRECKNISH THE LORD MACKAY OF DRUMADOON THE LORD KINGSLAND
44	Page 1, line 24, at end insert-- ("unless he is excepted from section 1. (2) The holder of a hereditary peerage who is a member of the House of Commons is disqualified for being excepted from section 1 or for voting at any election held in pursuance of Standing Orders of the House for the exception of any person from section 1.")



© Parliamentary copyright 1999	Prepared 14 June 1999