| Subject: | Government and policy making |
| Topic: | Government structure |
| Year: | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
A report by a committee of MPs proposed further reforms to the House of Lords, including: removal of peers who were convicted of a serious criminal offence; a stronger voluntary retirement scheme; not replacing hereditary peers; and the removal of persistent, unauthorized non-attenders. The report said that further consideration should be given to a statutory Appointments Commission, and fixed-term appointments to the House.
Source: House of Lords Reform: What next?, Ninth Report (Session 2013-14), HC 251, House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Written evidence | Committee press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A report examined the issue of how many members should sit in the National Assembly for Wales. It concluded that, to bring it in line with similar legislatures, the National Assembly should have around 100 members.
Source: Size Matters: Making the National Assembly more effective, Electoral Reform Society
Links: Report | ERS press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that the coalition government had failed to set objective measures for assessing the impact of its reforms to the civil service, which would make it difficult to judge the success of the plan.
Source: Civil Service Reform, Thirteenth Report (Session 2013-14), HC 473, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that trust between civil servants and politicians was 'breaking down', resulting in a lack of accountability when things went wrong. It said that tensions over projects were 'all too evident' and called for a root-and-branch review of the civil service.
Source: Truth to Power: How Civil service reform can succeed, Eighth Report (Session 2013-14), HC 74, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Committee press release | IFG press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Sep