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House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I do not know whether the response has been published. I am quite happy to let him have a copy of it. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Steel, has found my comments helpful. In any reform, were it an interim reform as the noble Lord suggests or a more fundamental reform, the matters and the practical details that we have debated today would have to be considered. Whatever our views on whether it is wise to allow the noble Lord’s Bill to progress, our discussion and detailed consideration are extremely valuable. The Government’s formal position on the Bill is as I stated it when we debated the noble Lord’s Bill in July: that, as with all Private Members’ Bills that go through your Lordships’ House, the Government will adopt a neutral position. The Government will be constructive in responding to amendments that noble Lords put forward. I hope that I have demonstrated that approach today in commenting in detail on the noble Lord’s Bill. We do not know what shape the Bill will be in if and when it leaves your Lordships’ House. It is certainly not in my gift to offer government time for it in another place. However, the Government’s efforts are focused on comprehensive reform. I know that noble Lords have sought, both today and in July, to question the Commons and its ability to come to a view through voting, but a vote is a vote is a vote. The process that was undertaken—the cross-party group, leading to a White Paper earlier this year, leading to the free votes—allowed the Commons to come to a clear conclusion and vote in favour of both an 80 per cent and 100 per cent elected House. That is the foundation on which the Government are taking forward their work. We have a cross-party working group, consisting of people appointed by the leadership of the three main parties. It has been meeting during the past few months. It will inform the basis of a White Paper to be produced by the Government in the New Year. We also hope to produce draft clauses in some areas for consideration by Parliament as a whole. Today’s debate will be extremely helpful in allowing us to consider the details with which we will inevitably need to deal in any fundamental reform.