Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour). It was answered on Thursday, 12 March 2009.

House of Lords: Police Searches

Question: My Lords, does the Chairman of Committees recognise that the draft protocol marginalises the role of the Lord Speaker by giving Black Rod ultimate power to decide on police access to this House for the purpose of searching Members’ offices? In the House of Commons it is the Speaker who decides. Should the Committee on Speakership not now be reconvened to consider the powers of both the Lord Speaker and Black Rod to decide on such matters and whether any Leader of the House—a politician—should have responsibility for influencing a decision on whether the offices of opposition Members, or indeed of any Member, should be searched by the police? That is a very dangerous proposition. The draft protocol is ill conceived, it treats the Speaker of this House shabbily, and I object.

Answer: My Lords, it is clear to me that the final decision should lie not with Black Rod but with the Lord Speaker and/or the Leader of the House, depending on what the House Committee, and eventually the House, decides. I agree that the word "normally" could be seen as misleading, and I understand that it may well be removed from the final version of the protocol, subject to the decisions of the two committees and then, of course, the House. In any case, I will ensure that the noble Lord’s concerns about the ambiguities in the drafting of the protocol are heeded by both committees.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 708 c1264
Session: 2008-09
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Access House of Lords Police Powers Peers Offices Right of search Black Rod Leader of the House of Lords Lord Speaker
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk