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 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

Lord Taylor of Warwick has called a debate on  ”the concept of Britishness in the context of the cultural, historical and ethical tradition of the peoples of these islands” which will take place on Thursday 19 June in the House of Lords.  It’s expected to take place shortly after 11am and you will be able to watch [...]

Today the Joint Committee heard evidence from Tony McNulty MP, Minister of State, Home Office, Janet Paraskeva, First Civil Service Commissioner and Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service. Tomorrow the Committee will hear from Lord Lyell of Markyate, Lord Morris of Aberavon, Lord Mayhew of Twysden, Lord Carlile of Berriew [...]

The Public Affairs Select Committee have published their report on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill.  They offer a broad welcome to the Bill but say that proposals fail to transfer key powers away from No 10.  More information and a full copy of the report can be found here.  

The Justice Committee of the House of Commons have announced that they will hold an evidence session on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill on 10 June at 4.15 pm in the Grimond Room in Portcullis House.  Witnesses include Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, Attorney General.  More information can be found 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 [...]

The next meeting of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Reneweal Bill will be held on 3 June.  Confirmed witnesses so far are Gareth Crossman, Director of Policy at Liberty and Mike Schwarz, Partner at Bindmans. A meeting will also be held on 4 June and evidence will be  heard from Baroness Usha Prashar, Chairman of [...]

The Joint Committee of the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill will hold two evidence sessions this week.  The first at 1.45pm today will hear evidence from Tim Dutton QC, Chairman, Bar Council, Andrew Holroyd, President, Law Society and Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor, Daily Telegraph. Sebastian Payne, Lecturer, Kent Law School, University of Kent, Peter Facey, Director, Unlock [...]

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 [...]