Governance of Britain

 

"He has gone much further than most anticipated by proposing what could amount to a fundamental rewriting of the rules of our democracy and a major redistribution of where power lies within it."  (Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 8 July 2007).

Constitutional reform was the topic of Gordon Brown’s first address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister on 3 July 2007. The Prime Minister outlined a number of proposals from the Green Paper The Governance of Britain, which seeks to address two fundamental questions;

·         how should we hold power accountable, and

·         how should we uphold and enhance the rights and responsibilities of the citizen? 

Some of the reforms proposed will be taken forward immediately, and some in legislation in the next session of Parliament; others are meant to represent the first steps towards a final outcome of renewing trust in the democratic institutions.

Mr Brown said that he wants to consult and involve the public, so what he was proposing was "not and should not be seen as the final blueprint for a constitutional settlement but a route map towards it".

Some of the ideas and measures proposed will apply to the whole of the UK, but the devolution settlement means that some issues are in the hands of the devolved legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Government’s proposals in those cases apply only in England but "it hopes that the devolved administrations will be equally involved in the dialogue to come".

(A) LIMITING THE POWERS OF THE EXECUTIVE

Changes are proposed to the Prime Minister’s powers and those of the executive, suggesting that they be limited or surrendered altogether in the following areas (subject to consultation with interested parties and, where necessary, legislation):

1.    Deploying troops abroad

Mr Brown is proposing that the Government should seek the approval of the House of Commons for significant, non-routine deployments of the Armed Forces into armed conflict, to the greatest extent possible  without prejudicing the Government’s ability to take swift action to protect national security.

2.    Dissolution of Parliament

The Government believes that convention should be changed so that the Prime Minister is required to seek the approval of the House of Commons before asking the Monarch for a dissolution. (However, if the Prime Minister commands a majority in the House of Commons he will generally get approval to seek a dissolution anyway.)

3.    Recall of Parliament

The Government believes that where a majority of members of Parliament request a recall during a recess, the Speaker should consider the request, including in cases where the Government itself has not sought a recall. It would remain at the Speaker’s discretion to decide whether or not the House of Commons and to determine the date of the recall.

4.    Ratification of international treaties without decision by Parliament

The Government believes that the procedure for allowing Parliament to scrutinise treaties should be formalised, as Parliament may wish to hold a debate and vote on some treaties.

5.    Rules governing entitlement to passports and for the granting of pardons

Mr Brown also believes that the frameworks for granting pardons and for issuing and withdrawing passports should be set by Parliament and not by Government.

6.    Parliamentary oversight of the intelligence services

The Prime Minister said it was important to look at how the scrutiny of intelligence and security matters can become more transparent in a way that strengthens the legitimacy of, and support for, the security and intelligence Agencies without putting safety at risk.

7.    Choosing bishops

Essentially the Prime Minister will simply forward to the Sovereign the recommendations of the Church of England, rather than play an active role in the selection of individual candidates.

8.    Appointment of judges

Mr Brown is proposing that the Government consider relinquishing its residual role in the appointment of judges.

9.    Direction of prosecutors in individual criminal cases; and

The Prime Minister said that while they consult on reform, the Attorney General has decided, except if the law or national security requires it, not to make key prosecution decisions in individual criminal cases.

10.            Rules governing the Civil Service.

The Government believes that the core principles and values of the Civil Service should be enshrined in law, so they will no longer be set at the discretion of the executive. The legislation will also clarify the role of Special Advisers within government.  The Government will consult on the proposed Civil Service legislation with the Scottish Executive (sic).                

The Government will also:

·    work to increase parliamentary scrutiny of some public appointments, ensure that appointments are appropriately scrutinised more generally;

It is proposed that the House of Commons, through its Select Committees, should have a bigger role in the selection of key public officials by holding, as a first step, pre-appointment hearings for public officials whose role it is to protect the public’s rights and interests – and for whom there is not currently independent scrutiny. After that Mr Brown suggests that pre-commencement hearings be extended to utility and other regulators. The hearings would be non-binding, but in the light of the report from the committee, Ministers would decide whether to proceed. Where responsibility is devolved, it will be for the respective administration to consider the appointment.

·    and review the role of the Attorney General to ensure that the office retains the public’s confidence.

Mr Brown said that the role of Attorney General which combines legal and ministerial functions "needs to change".

MAKING THE EXECUTIVE MORE ACCOUNTABLE

Proposals in this section seek to add to the scrutiny that Parliament can exercise over government, including over the behaviour of Ministers. The Government also believes that people within their communities should be able to hold the executive to account over local issues. 

The Government will:

1.    consider legislation with the aim of maximising the effectiveness of the Intelligence and Security Committee and, in the interim, propose changes to improve the transparency and resourcing of the Committee;

The ISC is effectively the Select Committee in the Houses of Parliament for all the Intelligence Agencies and exercises oversight over them, but in order to safeguard the classified information it deals with, the Committee only meets in private, although its reports are published and debated in Parliament.

2.    publish a National Security Strategy which sets out the Government’s approach to the range of security challenges and opportunities that the UK faces at home and abroad, which will be overseen by a new National Security Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister and comprising senior Cabinet colleagues supported by relevant senior officials;

3.    introduce a pre-Queen’s Speech consultative process on its legislative programme;

The Prime Minister will at an appropriate time in advance of The Queen’s Speech, inform Parliament of the Government’s proposed legislative programme for the forthcoming year. This will be followed by a publication outlining the Bills proposed. The Government will seek the views of Parliament and the public on the list of Bills and the content of those bills.

4.    simplify the reporting of Government expenditure to Parliament;

5.    invite Parliament to hold annual parliamentary debates on the objectives and plans of major Government Departments; and

6.    limit the pre-release of official statistics to Ministers to 24 hours before publication.

Ministers can currently receive advance sight of National Statistics by up to 5 days in advance of publication for all statistics.

 Other points:

The Prime Minister has tightened the Ministerial Code and includes a number of key changes in it: a new Independent Adviser will be appointed to advise on Ministers’ interests and at the Prime Minister’s request will be able to investigate alleged breaches of the Ministerial Code; an Annual Report and List of Ministers’ Interests will be published and laid before Parliament.

RE-INVIGORATING OUR DEMOCRACY

The Green Paper suggests that democracy can be reinvigorated by making sure that decisions are made as close as possible to the people that they will affect, and are responsive to the needs of local communities.

To this end the Government will:

1.    continue to develop reforms for a substantially or wholly elected second chamber;

2.    consider extending the duration in which parties can use all-women shortlists for the selection of electoral candidates;

The Government wants to keep the law under review, and will if necessary extend the provisions in the Sex Discrimination (Electoral Candidates) Act 2002 beyond 2015 (as the Act allows) to allow all-women shortlists to continue to be used.

3.    better enable local people to hold service providers to account;

4.    place a duty on public bodies to involve local people in major decisions;

The Strong and Prosperous Communities – The Local Government White Paper set out the new duty that the Government is placing on local authorities in England to consult and involve local people in the major decisions which affect them.

5.    assess the merits of giving local communities the ability to apply for devolved or delegated budgets;

The Government will explore the possibility of a new provision for local communities to apply for devolved or delegated budgets to fund projects which will benefit the local community.

6.    consult on moving voting to weekends for general and local elections;

The consultation will take into account the needs of religious groups, to ensure that those with religious objections to voting on a Saturday or Sunday have an opportunity to vote in a way consistent with their beliefs. These proposals would not affect elections to the devolved legislatures.

7.    complete and publish a review of voting systems in line with the Labour Party's manifesto commitment;

8.    review the provisions that govern the right to protest in the vicinity of Parliament;

9.    right of charities to campaign.

The Government will explore the options for enabling charities and other sector organisations to better campaign on issues that are likely to advance the cause of the purposes for which they have been established.

Other points:

The Green Paper says that the Government will look to the further work of the House of Commons Procedure Committee on how to ensure more formal parliamentary consideration of petitions from members of the public.

BRITAIN’S FUTURE: THE CITIZEN AND THE STATE

This section focuses on the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The Green Paper discusses, without any commitment, the arguments for a written constitution and for the introduction of a Bill of Rights and Duties, but it is apparent that it is a statement of values that is the more immediate priority.  

The Government will:

1.    initiate an inclusive process of national debate to develop a British statement of values;

As a starting point, over the next few months the Government will release a series of discussion documents and materials to inform this national debate. The end point will be a British statement of values that reflects the voices of citizens across the country.

2.    work with Lord Goldsmith to conduct a review of British citizenship;

The Government believes that in order to ensure that there is a common bond between all types of citizen in the UK, whether born in the country or naturalised, it is important that there is more widespread agreement and understanding around the nature of the rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship.

3.    launch a Youth Citizenship Commission, looking at citizenship education, ceremonies and the possibility of reducing the voting age;

The Commission will examine what support schools in England need to improve the ways that they prepare young people for their life as an adult citizen.

4.    consult on the current guidance on flying the Union Flag from government buildings and Westminster Parliament.

 

CONCLUSION

The Green Paper starts by saying that it is "the first step in a national conversation" and it ends with the words "…and the discussion now begins"