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Vol. 773 Tuesday No. 4 24 May 2016 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS Questions House of Lords: Composition .......................................................................................259 Domestic Abuse: Rural Communities ............................................................................261 Assets of Community Value...........................................................................................264 Schools: Modern Languages ..........................................................................................265 Armed Forces Deployment (Royal Prerogative) Bill [HL] First Reading...................................................................................................................269 House of Lords Act 1999 (Amendment) Bill [HL] First Reading...................................................................................................................269 International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) (Amendment) Bill [HL] First Reading...................................................................................................................270 Lobbying (Transparency) Bill [HL] First Reading...................................................................................................................270 Budget Responsibility and National Audit (Fiscal Mandate) Bill [HL] First Reading...................................................................................................................270 Counter-Daesh: Quarterly Update Statement........................................................................................................................270 Queen’s Speech Debate (4th Day) ..........................................................................................................280 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2016-05-24 The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2016, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 259 House of Lords: Composition[24 MAY 2016] House of Lords: Composition 260 House of Lords Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The noble Lord is absolutely right that it was in the House of Commons Tuesday 24 May 2016 where the Bill failed and did not proceed. In light of that attempt having been made and not succeeding, 2.30 pm this party in government has made it clear that it is not something that it wishes to attempt in this Parliament. Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Southwark. Lord Maginnis of Drumglass (Ind UU): My Lords, the Secretary of State for the Home Department warned us about an increasing threat from dissident IRA, yet House of Lords: Composition when I lobbied each Member of this House from Question Northern Ireland I learnt that not a single one had been contacted by either the Home Secretary or the 2.36 pm Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Does it really matter where we come from if we are treated in that Asked by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock fashion? To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make the composition of the House of Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The Government take Lords more representative of the nations and regions seriously their responsibility to consult people about of the United Kingdom. serious and important matters of policy, and that includes consulting Members of your Lordships’House. I am sad to hear what the noble Lord said but this is The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) usually something that we do very well indeed. (Con): My Lords, Members of your Lordships’ House come from all corners of the United Kingdom, but we do not represent those nations and regions. We all Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab): My Lords, I have work on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole. the figures here. Can the noble Baroness confirm that Any change in that respect would be fundamental. As we have almost as many Members whose main residence is clear from the Conservative manifesto, comprehensive is overseas as we do Members who come from the east reform of this House is not a priority in this Parliament. Midlands? Is it not time for a moratorium on the appointment of new Peers from London and the south- east so that we can rebalance the membership? Come Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab): Did the Leader of to think of it, should we not have a moratorium on all the House not see the Answer that I received from her appointments? Can she confirm that it is her and the colleague in the Ministry of Justice which stated that Prime Minister’s intention to pack her Benches with out of 808 Writs issued to Peers to attend this House yet more Conservative Peers in the next few weeks? in this Parliament, 385 were to Peers living in London, with very few in Wales, in the east and West Midlands, Baroness Stowell of Beeston: New appointments are in the north-east and north-west of England and in a matter for the Prime Minister and I am not going to Yorkshire and Humberside? To reflect all those interests speculate on that. However, this is more complex than properly, is it not better to have people from all quarters just a question of where we come from and where we of the United Kingdom? Will the Leader of the House live. One interesting thing in the data from which the look at ways in which this terrible imbalance can be noble Lord is quoting is that there are more Labour rectified? Peers than Conservative Peers with London addresses. As an example, I live in London but am from Beeston, Baroness Stowell of Beeston: My Lords, the noble just outside Nottingham. Although I do not represent Lord is right that certain parts of the United Kingdom Beeston, I like to think that I bring some knowledge are better represented than others. I believe that for us and experience of where I was born and brought up, to be effective as a House it is important that we all and I hope that that adds to my contributions in this offer a range of backgrounds, experiences and expertise. House. However, because we are unelected and do not have responsibility to represent any parts of the United Baroness Hayman (CB): My Lords, the noble Baroness Kingdom, it is not an easy question for us to remedy, the Leader pointed out that the Conservative manifesto but it is certainly one that I shall reflect on. said that there would be no comprehensive reform of this House during this Parliament. In so far as that is Lord Tyler (LD): My Lords, does the Leader of the shorthand for not introducing a Bill for an elected House recall that all her colleagues in the Cabinet of House, it is very welcome to some of us. However, will the coalition Government supported the 2012 Bill she make it clear that it does not rule out sensible, which would have rectified the problem to which the incremental reform of your Lordships’ House, which noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, referred? Does she also means taking decisive action to reduce the numbers in recognise that the House of Commons gave that Bill a this House? huge majority, of 338? Does she further recall that the colleagues in the other House of the noble Lord, Lord Baroness Stowell of Beeston: I agree with the noble Foulkes, played party games and prevented that Baroness about incremental reform. As she knows, Bill proceeding? and as I have said before from this Dispatch Box, one 261 House of Lords: Composition[LORDS] Domestic Abuse: Rural Communities 262 [BARONESS STOWELL OF BEESTON] invested a further £3.8 million in a new campaign, of the great achievements in the last Parliament was Disrespect NoBody, which we hope will build awareness the incremental reform which we brought in and which of these issues. she led through her Private Member’s Bill. The other important reform was the facility for Peers in this Lord Rosser (Lab): This is also an issue for police House to retire—an approach that I very much support. and crime commissioners to address in their respective Regarding further steps along that track, if there is areas, since through the police budget, for which broad consensus and we are able to attract cross-party commissioners are responsible, they can determine the agreement on further incremental reforms, I shall be resources, finances, staff and training,