Question

To ask the Leader of the House whether she will present proposals to the Procedure Committee to amend the rules on rotation and membership of select committees to allow for the election by the House of members of committees for the lifetime of a Parliament.

The rotation rule was last considered by the Procedure Committee in March 2014 (5th Report, Session 2013-14, HL Paper 167). Its proposal to reduce the length of membership from four successive sessions to three, in order to secure a regular turnover of membership and therefore broaden participation in the work of the House’s committees by members, was agreed to by the House (HL Deb 13 May 2014, cols 1771-1775).

I have no plans to present further proposals to change the rotation rule to the Procedure Committee. However, other members are welcome to submit their own proposals to the Procedure Committee for its consideration.