PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority - 4 December 2018 (Commons/General Committees)

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the motion, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty will appoint Richard Lloyd to the office of ordinary member of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority for period of 5 years with effect from 1 December 2018.

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson, and to make a guest appearance to move the motion in the name of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House.

The proposed appointment is due to the resignation of Jackie Smith from the IPSA board. The Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has produced a report—its first of 2018—that relates to the motion, but it may help if I set out the key points for the record.

IPSA board members are appointed under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. Under the Act, the Speaker is responsible for overseeing the selection of candidates for appointment to IPSA. The names of any candidates to be members of IPSA must be approved by the Speaker’s Committee for IPSA. On this occasion, the vacancy was for an ordinary board member. Such members are not subject to any of the specific statutory requirements listed under the Act.

The Speaker is not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, but in making this appointment Mr Speaker has chosen to follow recommended best practice in his supervision of appointments. As is normal for such appointments, Mr Speaker appointed a panel to conduct the shortlisting and interviewing of candidates. The panel was chaired by Mr Mark Addison, a former civil service commissioner. The other panel members were Ruth Evans, chair of IPSA; Shrinivas Honap, lay member of the Speakers Committee on the IPSA; and Meg Munn, former MP for Sheffield, Heeley.

The candidate recommended by the appointment board is Mr Richard Lloyd, the current UK chairman of Resolver, who has substantial experience both of organisational strategy and of operational delivery in public, private and third sector services. He exhibited a strong understanding of the role of IPSA and the critical challenges that it faces. He also has experience working with regulators, including the Food Standards Agency, the Gambling Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority. His full CV is included in the Speaker’s Committee report.

As required under the Act, the appointment was approved by the Speaker’s Committee at its meeting on 20 November. If the appointment is made, Mr Lloyd will serve on IPSA for five years. Should this Committee, and ultimately the House, support his appointment, I wish him well as he takes up his new post, and I thank the panel for its endeavours.

As ever, Mr Robertson, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys on opening the debate on behalf of the Government; I suspect that he did not expect to be here, but given that his boss is downstairs in the Chamber trying to hold the Government together, it is no surprise that he is. I do find one thing rather amusing: like many hon. Members present, I have just come from the Chamber, where we were discussing an Humble Address not being followed, so it is with a sense of irony that I see another Humble Address before this Committee.

I have one question for the hon. Gentleman standing in for the Leader of the House. As I understand it, the gentleman who is proposed for the IPSA post took up office on 1 December, yet Parliament is being asked to approve his appointment today, on 4 December. Over the EU referendum campaign, we were told that Parliament was taking back control, yet essentially we are being asked to rubber-stamp something that has already happened. I suspect that that is an indication of how the Government see the role of parliamentarians. We can draw our own conclusions about that, but I want to put it on the record that I ask the hon. Gentleman why Parliament is being asked to approve an appointment that has already started.

I am happy to try to respond. I was not sure whether we were getting a question or a running commentary there, but I think I detected a question at the end. The hon. Member for Glasgow East may have been paying attention to what I said; I do say things for a reason. The Speaker’s Committee reached its decision on 20 November. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman, as someone with great knowledge of the workings of the House, realises the time it takes to process delegated legislation. We brought the motion before the Committee as soon as we could; I hope he can support it, because I am sure that Mr Lloyd will do a good and diligent job.

Question put and agreed to.