Washminster

Washminster
Washminster

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Prrinciples for Parliamentary Reform

In a recent Briefing Paper on House of Commons reform, the Hansard Society proposed Five principles to guide parliamentary reform.

1 Primacy of scrutiny - Parliament should be organised and resourced in such a way that parliamentarians can more systematically and effectively scrutinise the Executive

2 Cultural Change - MPs views of their role needs to change - and more emphasis needs to be put on working effectively in committees.

3 Procedural change and streamlining - the quality of outputs - particularly legislation needs to be improved

4 Public Engagement - Parliament must communicate with and respond more effectively to the Public

5 Strategic vision and leadership - piecemeal evolution is not enough - there needs to be a strategic vision, and the leadership to push through necessary reforms.

The paper can be read in full here.