Committee welcomes decision to not implement Strathclyde Review

• Inquiry: The Strathclyde Review
• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Strathclyde Review

In October 2015, the Government was defeated in the House of Lords on Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations. In response to this defeat, the Government accused Peers of having broken constitutional convention and announced that Lord Strathclyde would lead a review into how the decisive role of the House of Commons in relation to its primary on financial matters, and secondary legislation, could be secured.

When the Strathclyde Review reported in December 2015, it proposed that legislation should be introduced to ensure that House of Lords defeats of statutory instruments could be overruled by the House of Commons. 

Committee Report

In May 2016, PACAC published its report into Strathclyde Review's proposals, with its main recommendation being that:

The Government should not produce legislative proposals aimed at implementing the Strathclyde Review's recommendations. Such legislation would be an overreaction and entirely disproportionate to the House of Lords' legitimate exercise of a power that even Lord Strathclyde has admitted is rarely used. The Government's time would be better spent in rethinking the way it relies on secondary legislation for implementing its policy objectives and in building better relations with the other groupings in the House of Lords.

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