Policy paper

2010 to 2015 government policy: constitutional reform

Updated 8 May 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. The previous URL of this page was https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reforming-the-constitution-and-political-system. Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.

Issue

The government is working to reform our political and constitutional system to help restore people’s faith in politics and politicians.

We want to make politicians and public services more accountable by giving people the ability to recall their MP and devolving more power to local services and communities.

We also need to update some of the ways our constitution works, such as reforming the way people register to vote to make the electoral registration system more effective and efficient.

Actions

We will:

• change the rules of Royal Succession, including making it possible for female heirs to be first in line to throne over younger male heirs
• speed up the move from household electoral registration to Individual Electoral Registration by 2015
• consider a joint committee’s report on Parliamentary Privilege and create the power to recall MPs who are guilty of breaking the rules
• put the Mental Health (Discrimination) (No.2) Bill into action - helping to end discrimination based on mental illness
• make it easier for the public to see what meetings ministers have and make changes to the law through reforms of the lobbying system

We introduced fixed-term Parliaments of 5 years in September 2011. Fixed-term Parliaments mean that Prime Ministers no longer have the power to call a general election when they want, so the party in power cannot choose a date that would give the party an advantage in elections (eg because opinion polls are in their favour).

The date of the next general election is scheduled to be 7 May 2015.

As part of our continuing work on constitutional and political reform, we’re also working to increase voter registrations as much as possible.

Background

We have published details of ministerial meetings and how government obtains goods and services, along with a number of other items of public interest.

Bills and Legislation

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011-12 fixes the length of Parliamentary terms to 5 years.

The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 speeds up changes to the way people register to vote in Great Britain, moving from a Household Registration system to Individual Electoral Registration.

The Succession to the Crown Act 2012-13 changes the rules of succession to throne and regulations of royal marriage.

The Mental Health (Discrimination) (No.2) Bill removes existing barriers that discriminate against MPs, jurors and company directors suffering from mental illness.

Appendix 1: changing the rules of Royal Succession

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

The Prime Minister announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth on 28 October 2011 that the government would change the rules of royal succession. This was agreed with the 15 other Commonwealth countries, of which Her Majesty is Head of State.

The government received final consent from all the Commonwealth countries in December 2012 and the Bill was introduced in the House of Commons in January 2013. The Succession to the Crown Act received Royal Assent in April 2013.

The Succession to the Crown Act will:

• end the system of male heirs automatically inheriting the throne over female heirs - eg where a younger son is placed before an elder daughter in the line of succession
• remove the law that stops an heir succeeding to the throne if they are married to a Roman Catholic
• replace the Royal Marriages Act 1772 so only the first 6 in line to the throne will need the consent of the monarch to marry (replacing the rule that anyone descended from King George II needs consent) if they want to keep their place in the line of succession

Appendix 2: ending discrimination based on mental illness

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

In February 2011, the government announced its intention to repeal section 141 of the Mental Health Act.

The Mental Health (Discrimination) (No.2) Act received Royal Assent on 28 February 2013. Its purpose is to remove rules in current legislation that discriminate against people holding positions in public office who suffer from mental illness.

The Act repeals section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983 - where a Member of Parliament, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, or Northern Ireland Assembly automatically loses their seat if they are held under the Act for more than 6 months. It also ends any common law that stops a person from becoming a member of the House of Commons because of mental illness.

The Mental Health (Discrimination) (No.2) Act amends the Juries Act 1974, so that people who voluntarily receive regular treatment for a mental health disorder (but are not resident in a hospital or similar institution) are no longer banned from jury service.

It also repeals clauses in the Companies (Model Articles) Regulations 2008 and related regulations that support ending a company director’s employment because of his or her mental health.

Appendix 3: reviewing the rules of parliamentary privilege

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

A Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament has reviewed the government’s green paper on Parliamentary Privilege which looked at the current rules of Parliamentary Privilege and if these rules are appropriate.

The committee’s report (pdf) was published on 3 July 2013 and recommended that there was no need for new legislation on privilege. The report also said that MPs accused of serious wrongdoing should not be able to use parliamentary privilege to avoid criminal prosecution.

We are currently considering the committee’s report and will respond shortly.

Appendix 4: modernising our voting system - Individual Electoral Registration

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

The Individual Electoral Registration (IER) system replaces the Household Electoral Registration system to make the process of registration more convenient and more secure. IER requires each person to register individually, instead of one person in a household supplying the details of all the people living at that address. Online registration helps everyone who is eligible to vote to have control over their own registration.

The government introduced the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill in 2012 to help speed up the move from the Household Electoral Registration system to IER. The Bill gained Royal Assent in January 2013 and is now the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013.

The transition to IER took place in England and Wales in June 2014 after the local and European elections. It was introduced in Scotland after the referendum in September 2014. The government is working closely with local authorities’ electoral registration officers in England, Scotland and Wales, devolved administrations and IT suppliers.

Appendix 5: recall of MPs

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

The power to recall MPs means that an MP who is found guilty of serious wrongdoing could be forced to stand down and face a by-election.

The government introduced the Recall of MPs Bill in the House of Commons on 11 September 2014. It proposes a recall mechanism so that constituents can have their say on an MP’s actions where their behaviour has fallen below the standards expected of an MP. The Bill attained Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament on 26 March 2015.

Under the Recall of MPs Act a recall petition is triggered where one of the following conditions occurs:

• an MP is convicted in the UK of an offence and receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or less
• the House of Commons suspends the MP for at least 10 days when Parliament is sitting (or at least 14 calendar days if the motion is not expressed in terms of sitting days)
• an MP is convicted of an offence under section 10 of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (intentionally providing false or misleading information to claim MP’s allowances) – even if they have not received a custodial sentence

If one of these conditions is met, an MP’s constituents can sign a recall petition calling for a by-election. If 10% of eligible constituents sign the petition, the MP’s seat will become vacant and a by-election will be held. The unseated MP will be eligible to stand in the by-election.

The draft Bill and white paper were published on 13 December 2011.

The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee (PCRC) led a review of the draft bill between December 2011 and April 2012 and published its report on 28 June 2012. The government submitted an initial response to the PCRC on 26 September 2012, which repeated our intention to introduce a power of recall. On 17 July 2013 the government provided a full response (pdf) that accepted the majority of the PCRC’s recommendations.