L

Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 12 October 2026

Debate

Public Office (Accountability) Bill

Contribution

My Lords, all around the Committee noble Lords are listening to arguments for looking at how the Bill works out in practice. My Amendment 105 adds to that. It has been supported by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, and my noble friend Lady D’Souza. It would insert a new clause after Clause 20 which would review the effectiveness of the Act. Within 18 months of the day on which the Act is passed, the Secretary of State would have to lay before Parliament a review of the effectiveness of the Act and draft legislation, if necessary, to amend the Act or regulations to address any shortcomings or improvements that might be identified. All of us know the value of post-legislative scrutiny, but we do not do enough of it. This amendment seeks to do it. It sits comfortably with the arguments advanced to the Committee by the noble Lord, Lord Wills, in Amendment 107. It asks us to wait and see how things work out and then see how we might improve the measures further. This is not a wrecking amendment but one designed to examine how this has worked in practice and then do something to put right any deficiencies that we might discover.

More from Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.