This House of Lords Library briefing has been prepared ahead of the following debate in the House on 9 September 2021: Lord Blunkett to move that this House takes note of standards in public life.
Standards in Public Life (275KB PDF)
Are the ethical standards which govern the conduct of politicians and civil servants fit for purpose?
The Committee on Standards in Public Life, which advises the Prime Minister on ethical standards across public life in England, has recently published the interim findings of its ‘Standards Matter 2’ review. This was a wide-ranging examination of the seven principles of public life and their implementation, which comes at the same time as several parliamentary enquiries examine the conduct of former and current senior office holders.
The committee’s report found that there were four areas standards regulation that needed significant reform. These were: the Ministerial Code and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests; the business appointment rules and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA); transparency around lobbying; and the regulation of public appointments. However, the Committee also rejected calls for other reforms, such as placing the Ministerial Code on a statutory footing.
Standards in Public Life (275KB PDF)
The House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber Bill) [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru). It would require the secretary of state to carry out a consultation regarding proposals for replacing the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber. The bill specifies whom the secretary of state would be required to consult with and the timeframe of that consultation.
![House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 11 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/House-of-Lords-568x426.png)
The Sovereign Grant Bill is a government bill which would amend how the sovereign grant is set. This is a grant paid to the King to support the work of the sovereign. The bill would enable the size of the sovereign grant to be reduced following the completion of a 10-year works project on Buckingham Palace. The bill received cross-party support and was not amended in the House of Commons.
The bill is a government bill that would make a range of changes to the legal framework concerning elections, including extending the franchise for UK parliamentary elections and other reserved elections to 16- and 17-year-olds. The bill was amended during both its committee and report stages in the House of Commons, with many of the government’s later amendments implementing recommendations from the Rycroft review on countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics.
