Protect the constitution, says Lords committee

28 Jan 2025 01:56 PM

The Constitution Committee publishes its sixth report of the session which examines executive oversight and responsibility for the UK constitution.

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Background

In its report published yesterday, the Committee examines how the Prime Minister and their Government - the executive - protect and respect our constitution and proposes improvements to these ways of working. 

Given that so much of the responsibility within the executive for safeguarding the constitution sits with the Prime Minister, it is important that they fully embrace their constitutional responsibilities and take them seriously. Otherwise, there is a risk of the erosion of constitutional norms.

The role of the courts and political controls such as elections are not sufficient constitutional safeguards in and of themselves. The Committee considers that more formal measures are necessary. The possibility that individuals might neglect or abuse their constitutional responsibilities, when combined with the flexibility of the UK’s constitution, makes their existence particularly important. Institutional safeguards can help to ensure that oversight of the constitution is robust and effective, and they can mitigate, to an extent, the risk of abuse.

Key findings

The report makes the following recommendations:

Chair’s comments

Baroness Drake, Chair of the House of Lords Constitution Committee yesterday said:

“Though the flexibility of the UK constitution is a strength, it also means that it can be vulnerable to erosion. The integrity of our constitution relies, to a considerable extent, upon individuals respecting and complying with constitutional norms (which include constitutional conventions, such as the Sewel or the Salisbury-Addison conventions, and constitutional principles, such as the rule of law).

“Several ministers have constitutional responsibilities. For example, the Lord Chancellor has a statutory duty to defend the rule of law and independence of the judiciary. However, only the Prime Minister is ultimately responsible, within the executive, for safeguarding the constitution. In this significant responsibility, they are supported by officials, most notably the Cabinet Secretary, and the law officers. We think that they should be further supported by a senior minister who holds responsibility for safeguarding the constitution.

“In recent years the constitution has been placed under stress in a number of ways and we hope that the recommendations laid out in our report today will aid the Government in strengthening the safeguards to protect our constitution, and to help those within the executive with constitutional responsibilities to carry out their duties with expertise and honour.

“I will also reiterate that the Council of the Nations and Regions requires serious and sustained engagement by the UK Government and the other parties involved to ensure that it is able to deliver the positive and effective engagement across the UK that is intended.”

Further information