Straw fears for MPs' reputation

Jack Straw says he is worried about Parliament being effective

The reputation of MPs will be damaged if they do not have a stronger role in scrutinising proposed new laws, new Commons leader Jack Straw has warned.

Mr Straw said the Commons should be careful otherwise it would be judged badly in comparison with the Lords.

He said ministers created further problems for themselves by resisting constructive criticisms of their plans.

The former foreign secretary was chairing the Commons modernisation committee for the first time.

The committee was hearing from academics about how Parliament could become more effective.

Ineffective?

Mr Straw said he had taken a keen interest both in opposition and as a Cabinet minister in how laws were made.

"I'm fair from certain that the process that we have is both efficient and effective," he said.

He said he was struck by arguments that the system had become more efficient since 1997 but not necessarily more effective in scrutinising legislation.

Nottingham University academic Philip Cowley said he wanted to see specialist committees used more often to go through Government plans line-by-line.

Specialist committees could take evidence from outside experts, he said.

Conservative MP Greg Knight said the standing committees which usually debated the details of legislation were too ad hoc, were not made up of experts and did not have the appetite for in-depth scrutiny.

Ministers also saw any attempt to change their plans as an attack on their policies, he said. And they were egged on by civil servants who encouraged them to resist amendments.

Mr Straw echoed his concerns, saying: "It's never seemed to me to be sensible to have a standing committee run where you are resisting everything, because you are often storing up problems for yourself in the Lords.

"One of the things we have to address in this committee is that need to give the Commons a more active role in scrutinising legislation otherwise there is reputational damage for the Commons vis-a-vis the Lords.

"And it ought to be the effective house which is doing at least a significant part of the bill in scrutinising bills."