To make provision for the appointment of a Commission to make recommendations to the Crown for the creation of life peerages; to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of hereditary peerage; to make provision for permanent leave of absence from the House of Lords; to provide for the expulsion of members of the House of Lords in specified circumstances; and for connected purposes.
Lord Steel of Aikwood introduced a similar Bill with the same title in the previous parliamentary session of 2007-08. That Bill received a second reading, on 30 November 2007, but made no further progress. Key areasAll recommendations for life peerages would be made by a statutory Appointments Commission Existing hereditary Peers would no longer be replaced when they die Permanent leave of absence should be granted to Members of the Lords on request. If they do not attend the House of Lords this would be viewed as taking permanent leave of absence Members of the Lords sentenced to more than one year in prison would no longer be Members of the House of Lords.
House of Lords
13 November 2009
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
This Bill would reform how the House of Lords is staffed. It would create a statutory Appointments Commission to recommend life peerages to the Crown, stop automatic replacement of hereditary peers when they die, and introduce a permanent leave of absence and expulsion rules for Lords in certain circumstances.
The Bill is currently at the Committee stage in the Lords. It has had its first and second readings in the Lords in 2008–2009, and is now being considered in committee.
Generated 21 February 2026
4 Dec 2008
27 Feb 2009
19 Mar 2009
Line by line examination of the Private Members' Bill took place during committee stage on 19 March.
A further day of committee - where suggested changes to be the Bill may be made - is yet to be scheduled.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
