Wright Committee
Encyclopedia
The Reform of the House of Commons Committee (known informally as the Wright Committee) was a Select Committee of the UK Parliament
. It was established in 2009 to improve the procedures and relevance of Parliament. It reported on 12 November 2009 and made a number of recommendations, in a document entitled 'Rebuilding the House'.
These included
The general theme is that the House should have much more scope to choose and schedule its own activities. In May 2010, the incoming coalition Conservative and Liberal Democrat government
agreed to bring forward the Wright Committee's recommendations in full .
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It was established in 2009 to improve the procedures and relevance of Parliament. It reported on 12 November 2009 and made a number of recommendations, in a document entitled 'Rebuilding the House'.
These included
- Reduction in the number of committees and in the size of a standard departmental committee, possibly to eleven members
- Chairs of departmental and similar select committees should be directly elected by secret ballotSecret ballotThe secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
of the House using the alternative voteInstant-runoff votingInstant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a... - Members of departmental and similar committees should be elected from within party groups by secret ballot
- Backbench business should be scheduled by the House rather than by Ministers
- The House should decide its sitting pattern for itself
- An effective e-petitionPetitionA petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
s system should be introduced, including the possibility that members of the public might be able to compel an issue to be debated in the House - One backbench motion per month should be routinely scheduled for debate
The general theme is that the House should have much more scope to choose and schedule its own activities. In May 2010, the incoming coalition Conservative and Liberal Democrat government
United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...
agreed to bring forward the Wright Committee's recommendations in full .