Governance of Britain

Today the Justice Secretary Jack Straw marked the anniversary of the Governance of Britain with a statement to the House of Commons in which he set out the progress made in meeting the objectives of the programme.  He said that in July last year the Prime Minister outlined steps toward further constitutional reform to renew our democracy, building a [...]

The Ministry of Justice today published a consultation on the day we vote. This debate will also look at the other barriers to voting and could potentially lead to a change to voting at the weekend. Launching the consultation, the minister Michael Wills, said: ‘Decisions are made by those who vote. The government wants to make it easier for people [...]

The Justice Select Committee has published a report on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill focusing on the role of the Attorney General. You can access the report here

The Governance of Britain Green Paper included a commitment to increase democratic scrutiny of public appointments.  The Government has now published a list of key appointments which will be subject to pre-appointment hearings by the Select Committee. The list includes posts which play a key role in protecting the public’s rights and interests and where the post-holder [...]

Today the Government has published Preparing Britain for the Future - the Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09, which sets out the UK Government’s plans for legislative and key non-legislative action in next year’s Parliamentary session. The document can be viewed here. The Government’s plans to publish their draft legislative programme in advance of the Queen’s Speech in [...]

The Hansard Society are holding an event to debate the implications of the Procedure Committee’s recent report on e-Petitions, discuss what the next steps might be, how the process might work to ensure that the public are engaged and limit disillusionment with Parliament. The debate will take place on Tuesday 20 May, 6 - 7.15pm at the House [...]

The Hansard Society published its 5th annual Audit of Political Engagement with a special focus on the Constitution. The Audit measures the nature and extent of political engagement through a national survey conducted by IpsosMORI.  This year’s research also includes data on public attitudes to constitutional reform including issues such as the House of Lords, a Bill [...]

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has today announced plans for a new White Paper focused on giving people a real say on improving local services and promoting active citizenship. The Empowerment White Paper, to be published in the Summer, will set out how the untapped talent of communities can be unleashed to ensure everyone has a greater say in [...]

Professor Jonathan Tonge was announced as chair of the new Youth Citizenship Commission today (29 February 2008). The Governance of Britain green paper published last year highlighted the importance of engaging young people as citizens, so they are able to take an active part in society. The Youth Citizenship Commission will focus on young people aged 11 [...]

Justice Minister Michael Wills gave a speech on the constitutional renewal programme at the Leslie Scarman Lecture on 13 February 2008. This year’s lecture was delivered by Professor Aharon Barak, the former President of the Supreme Court of Israel. The full text is available here.