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Parliamentary and Politics

Taxis for Speaker's wife 'consistent with permitted use'

Mr Mark Wallace - Campaign Director of the Taxpayers' Alliance - submitted a complaint to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner in which he claimed that the cost of certain taxi journeys undertaken by Mrs. Mary Martin, the wife of Mr Speaker, had been improperly met - through the Speaker's Office - from public funds.

This Report from the Committee on Standards and Privileges, 'Conduct of Mr Speaker' (HC 559), examines the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standard's decision to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that 'the journeys were consistent with the permitted use of taxis for official business and a reasonable use of public funds'.

Role of the Attorney General examined

This Report, 'Reform of the Office of Attorney General' (HL 93), examines the role of the Attorney General as provider and co-ordinator of legal advice, and senior legal advisor to the Crown. It also examines the role of the Attorney General in individual prosecutions and its functions as a minister.

House of Commons 'e-Petitions' scheme proposed

Historically, it has been seen as the right of every commoner to prepare and present petitions to the House of Commons in case of grievance and for the House to receive and respond to them.

This report, 'e-Petitions' (HC 136), follows on from a May 2007 Procedure Committee Report, in which support was expressed in principle for an e-petitioning system for the House of Commons.

Constitutional renewal for Britain proposed

In July 2007, the Green Paper 'The Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170) was published, which set out the Government's vision and proposals for constitutional renewal, calling on the public, Parliament and other organisations to submit their views. A further five consultation papers were issued following the July 2007 Green Paper.

This three-volume White Paper, 'The Governance of Britain - Constitutional Renewal' (Cm. 7342-I/II/II), is the result of the consultation process and forms part of the Governance of Britain series examining constitutional renewal.

Conduct of Mr Peter Hain examined

This Report from the Committee on Standards and Privileges, 'Conduct of Mr Peter Hain' (HC 324), sets out the current state of the investigation into the conduct of Mr Peter Hain, Member of Parliament for Neath and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Conduct of Derek Conway MP examined

This Report from the Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges, ‘Conduct of Mr Derek Conway’ (HC 280), examines the conduct of Derek Conway, Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup.

Alternative voting systems reviewed

'The Governance of Britain - Review of Voting Systems' (Cm. 7304) examines the experience of new voting systems in the United Kingdom since 1997.

MPs salaries set to rise

‘Review Body on Senior Salaries Report # 64: Review of Parliamentary Pay, Pensions and Allowances 2007’ (Cm. 7270) examines the pay, pensions and allowances for members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Plaid Cymru MPs conduct criticised

This Report, ‘Conduct of Mr Elfyn Llwyd, Mr Adam Price and Mr Hywel Willliams’ (HC 94), examines complaints into the conduct of three Plaid Cymru Members or Parliament, following allegations of misuse of parliamentary allowances.

Science and Technology Committee to be dissolved

‘The Last Report’ (HC 1108) is the final report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee.

Governance of Britain: protest, war making and judicial appointments

In July 2007, 'The Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170) presented the Government's proposals for constitutional renewal.

The four main themes of the Governance of Britain series are:

  • Limiting the power of the executive
  • Making the executive more accountable
  • Re-invigorating democracy
  • The relationship between the citizen and the state.

Governance: reviewing the Attorney General’s role and Public Petitions

In its Green Paper 'The Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170), the Government set out proposals for radical constitutional reform to rebalance power between the executive, legislature and the people.

Among the proposals to improve the engagement between Parliament and the people were:

  • A commitment to reforming the role of the Attorney General
  • Changes to the system of Public Petitions and Early Day Motions.

George Galloway investigated

'Conduct of Mr George Galloway' (HC 909-I) examines the memorandum produced by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on the outcome of his investigation of complaints against the conduct of Mr George Galloway MP (the text of the memorandum is included as an appendix to the report).

The Commissioner's investigation focused on allegations published in a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph in April 2003 that Mr Galloway had received substantial undeclared personal financial benefits from the former Iraqi regime ran by Saddam Hussein by way of the UN Oil for Food programme, and that in doing so he had breached the Commons' rules on registration of interests and the Commons' Code of Conduct.

Empowering women: Ministers for Women set out priorities

This statement ‘Priorities for the Ministers for Women’ (Cm 7183) sets out the Ministers’ priorities for policies designed to empower and support women in Britain.

Government announces draft legislative programme

This Command Paper 'The Governance of Britain - The Government's Draft Legislative Programme' (Cm. 7175) is the first annual statement setting out a draft legislative programme to be laid before the next Parliament.

Where previously the legislative programme was not divulged in advance of the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, this new annual statement allows Parliament and the public advance notice of the legislation that the Government plans to bring forward.

Wide constitutional reform proposed

Aimed at restoring public trust in politics, this Green Paper 'The Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170) sets out the Government's vision and proposals for constitutional renewal. Plans focus particularly on modernising the role of the Executive in the UK system of governance.

The four main themes are:

  • Limiting the power of the executive
  • Making the executive more accountable
  • Re-invigorating democracy
  • Improving the relationship between the citizen and the state.

Register of Members' Interests

This edition of the Register of Members' Interests (HC 436) records Members' Interests as at 26 March 2007.

The main purpose of the Register is to encourage transparency by providing information of any pecuniary or other material benefit which an MP receives, which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament.

Political party financing in UK is “unstable”

Political parties are key institutions in any system of representative democracy.

In this Report, the Constitutional Affairs Committee finds that the present system of party financing in the UK is “unstable”.

Improving educational facilities at Parliament

This Report ‘Improving Facilities for Educational Visitors to Parliament’ (HC 434) looks at improving visitor's access to Parliament, and assesses what the focus of Parliament's visitor services should be and who should be the main target audience.

Funding of political parties examined

This Report explores options for reforming the funding of political parties. Undertaken in response to a request by the Prime Minister following recent controversy surrounding peerages for donors and loans made to political parties, the report acknowledges that there is a widespread public disenchantment with party politics and politicians.


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