---

House of Lords: Reform

This afternoon, my right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister informed the other place about the Government’s plans to proceed with reform of the House of Lords. A committee composed of members from all three major political parties will be charged with producing a draft Bill by no later than the end of this year. The committee will be chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister; and the members of the committee will be: Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform at the Cabinet Office (Mark Harper MP); Leader of the House of Lords (Rt Hon Lord Strathclyde); Deputy Leader of the House of Lords (Rt Hon Lord McNally); Leader of the Opposition, House of Lords (Rt Hon Baroness Royall of Blaisdon); Leader of the House of Commons (Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP); Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (David Heath MP); Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP); and Shadow Justice Secretary (Rt Hon Jack Straw MP) Subject to the agreement of the usual channels, the draft Bill will then be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint committee of both Houses, which will afford the opportunity for backbench Members from across the House to input to the policy in the draft Bill.