‘In its Report setting the agenda for a likely Labour government after the next elections, the Brown Commission has set out an ambitious programme of constitutional reform. In a previous post, I examined its recommendation in relation to a fully elected second chamber to replace the House of Lords. In this post, I will examine its recommendations concerning bodies that comparative constitutional scholarship calls ‘fourth branch’ or guarantor institutions. The Report recommends the setting up of three new independent constitutional guarantors: an Integrity & Ethics Commission to enforce the code of ministerial conduct, an Appointments Commission for merit-only appointments to public bodies, and an Anti-Corruption Commissioner. It also recommends further empowerment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to provide evidence on the implementation of the new proposed social rights, ‘with a remit, membership and staffing substantially altered to give it capacity to do so.’ It seeks to offer a new constitutional mandate to the UK Infrastructure Bank and rename it as the British Regional Business Investment Bank.’
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UK Constitutional Law Association, 30th March 2023
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
