Tuesday Volume 528 24 May 2011 No. 163 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 24 May 2011 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2011 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, available online through The National Archives website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/our-services/parliamentary-licence-information.htm Enquiries to The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU; e-mail: [email protected] 757 24 MAY 2011 758 The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg): Ihave House of Commons received many representations expressing a wide variety of views— Tuesday 24 May 2011 Mr Speaker: Order. I believe the Deputy Prime Minister is seeking a grouping. The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock The Deputy Prime Minister: Yes, forgive me. [HON. MEMBERS: “Oh!”] I would like to group questions 3, 4, 5, PRAYERS 11 and 12. A major issue—my omission to group the questions. That is how over-excited Members on the Opposition Benches get. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] 4. Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con): What recent representations he has received on his proposals for Oral Answers to Questions House of Lords reform. [56962] 5. Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab): What recent representations he has received on his proposals for reform of the House of Lords. [56963] DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER 11. Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD): What The Deputy Prime Minister was asked— representations he has received on his plans for the future composition of the House of Lords. [56969] Disabled People (Elected Office) 12. Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con): What recent 1. Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con): What representations he has received on his proposals for progress he has made on implementing his proposals reform of the House of Lords. [56970] for additional support for disabled people to achieve elected office. [56959] The Deputy Prime Minister: The loudest voices inevitably belong to those who object the most to our proposals to The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg): We make the House of Lords a more democratic Chamber conducted a public consultation exercise, which ran but, as the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr Love) said from 16 February to 11 May, to seek views on a range of last week, a democratic Chamber was endorsed in the proposals designed to help to remove barriers faced by manifestos of all three of the largest parties in the disabled people who are seeking elected office. We are House. currently analysing the responses, and intend to announce the strategy later this year. Mr Love: Accountability is the essence of democracy. Amber Rudd: I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for If the newly elected Members serve only one term for that answer. In Hastings we have 32 councillors and in 15 years, how can that be called democratic? East Sussex 49, but not one of them is registered disabled. Can he give any advice to the leaders of my The Deputy Prime Minister: As was discussed in the councils about what can be done to encourage more debate last week, the principle that one of the ways disabled people to get involved in local politics? in which we distinguish between a reformed House of Lords and this Chamber is to introduce long non-renewable The Deputy Prime Minister: My hon. Friend is right: terms for the elected component in the other place was the issue is applicable not just to this place, but to not invented by this Government. It was identified in a councils up and down the country. There are clearly series of cross-party commissions over many years, but barriers impeding the participation of people with if the Joint Committee that is to be established thinks disabilities in politics at all levels. I pay tribute to those otherwise, that is exactly the kind of thing that we who were involved in the Speaker’s Conference on should debate in the months ahead. Parliamentary Representation, which was started some years ago and identified this as a problem. In our access Charlie Elphicke: Given that reform of the House of to elected office strategy, which we will announce, we Lords was in all three major parties’ manifestos, is it not will address how that might affect local councils as well right that the House discuss the matter in Committee to as this place. work out the best way to implement it? Mr Speaker: I call Lindsay Roy. He is not here, so I The Deputy Prime Minister: Yes, and that is precisely call Mr Andrew Love. why we look forward to a Joint Committee of both Houses being established through the usual channels, House of Lords which will be able to get to grips with all the many questions, queries and objections that have been raised, 3. Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): What so that we can as far as possible proceed on a cross-party representations he has received on his plans for the basis on something that all parties are committed to future composition of the House of Lords. [56961] seeing through. 759 Oral Answers24 MAY 2011 Oral Answers 760 Mr Bradshaw: From his conversations with the Prime as we campaign at election time, but it does not mean Minister, how committed would the Deputy Prime Minister that they are unimportant. We discuss many things in say the Prime Minister is to facing down his own Back this House, from local government finance to world Benchers and, if necessary, using the Parliament Act to trade rules and all sorts of things that are not raised get the reform through before the next election? from day to day in our local communities, but that are none the less important. That is why we as a country The Deputy Prime Minister: The Prime Minister gave have been struggling with this dilemma for more than an unambiguous answer to the question about the 100 years and why all three parties have a manifesto Parliament Act at Prime Minister’s questions last week. commitment finally to make progress on reforming the Not only was the commitment made by all three parties other place. in their manifestos, but it is one that we entered unambiguously into the coalition agreement. Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab): The thing we find most bizarre about all this is that it is a priority for the Mr Reid: Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is Government at this time. The coalition agreement states important that the reforms lead to an increase in the that they will continue to appoint peers to the House of diversity of representation in the second Chamber? Lords What steps will he take to ensure that that is the “with the objective of creating a second chamber that is reflective outcome of the reform? of the share of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.” The Deputy Prime Minister: One of the advantages of There are currently 792 unelected peers, after a year of the system that we are introducing, as explained in the the fastest level of appointment of new peers in the White Paper, is that it will permit political parties to history of this country. To get to the objective set out in take active steps, in so far as they wish to do so, to use the agreement, the Deputy Prime Minister would have elections to the other place to increase the diversity of to appoint another 269. Are there another 97 Liberal representation in Westminster as a whole. Democrats to make peers in the House of Lords? Should there not be a moratorium? Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con): Given the country’s firm rejection of AV in the recent referendum and the The Deputy Prime Minister: Every time the hon. fact that the Government’s proposals include the possibility Gentleman asks a question, I find it more and more of some form of proportional representation for election baffling why anyone should want to hack his phone of Members of this Parliament, will my right hon. and listen to his messages. It is quite extraordinary. The Friend at least consider giving the people of this country point he has just made illustrates why we need to reform a referendum on this important constitutional change? the House of Lords. The Deputy Prime Minister: The first point of which Postal Voting to remind my hon. Friend is that this was a manifesto commitment of all three parties. It is something that we 6. Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con): What recent as a country have been discussing for around 100 years assessment he has made of arrangements for the or so, and we have introduced changed electoral systems provision of postal votes on demand. [56964] to a number of Assemblies and Parliaments in the UK without referendums in the past. The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr Mark Harper): We have made no specific assessment of postal Mr David Winnick (Walsall North) (Lab): It is voting on demand, but we of course keep postal voting understanable that there is tension and disagreement under review as we consider electoral administration in between the two coalition parties on this issue, and general. perhaps on other matters, but it was reported last week that during a recent meeting of Tory MPs one Member Graham Evans: There have been widespread reports described the Liberal Democrats as “yellow” followed of shocking abuses of postal votes, especially in areas by a second word beginning with “b” then “a” and with high levels of multiple occupancy housing.