Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019

PART 1 Members of the Sponsor Body

Membership

1 (1) The Sponsor Body is to consist of the following members—

(a) a chair appointed in accordance with paragraph 2,

(b) at least 2 but not more than 4 persons appointed in accordance with paragraph 3, and

(c) at least 4 but not more than 8 persons appointed from amongst both the members of the House of Commons and the members of the House of Lords (and see also paragraph 4).

(2) In this Schedule—

(a) references to the “external members” are to the chair and the members referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b);

(b) references to the “Parliamentary members” are to the members referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c).

(3) The number of Parliamentary members must be greater than the number of external members.

(4) See also paragraph 8, which makes provision about the appointment of the first external members.

External members: appointment

2 (1) The chair is to be appointed by the House Commissions.

(2) A person may be appointed as the chair only if the person has been selected for appointment by the House Commissions on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

(3) A person may not be appointed as the chair if the person is—

(a) a member of either House of Parliament,

(b) a Minister of the Crown,

(c) a member of either of the House Commissions, or

(d) a director of the Delivery Authority (other than a director within paragraph 1(1)(c) of Schedule 2).

(4) The appointment of the chair does not have effect unless it is confirmed by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

3 (1) The external members (other than the chair) are to be appointed by the Sponsor Body.

(2) A person may be appointed under this paragraph only if the person has been selected for appointment by the Sponsor Body on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

(3) A person may not be appointed under this paragraph if the person is—

(a) a member of either House of Parliament,

(b) a Minister of the Crown,

(c) a member of either of the House Commissions, or

(d) a director of the Delivery Authority (other than a director within paragraph 1(1)(c) of Schedule 2).

(4) The functions conferred by this paragraph on the Sponsor Body are to be discharged by the House Commissions—

(a) before the Sponsor Body is first constituted in accordance with paragraph 1(1), or

(b) at any time when the number of external members is less than 2.

(5) The appointment of an external member under this paragraph does not have effect unless it is confirmed by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Parliamentary members: appointment

4 (1) A person may not be appointed as a Parliamentary member if the person is—

(a) a member of either of the House Commissions,

(b) a Minister of the Crown,

(c) a director of the Delivery Authority (other than a director within paragraph 1(1)(c) of Schedule 2), or

(d) a member of the Estimates Commission.

(2) The appointment of a Parliamentary member does not have effect unless it is confirmed by a resolution of the House of Parliament from which the person is drawn.

Terms of appointment: general

5 (1) An external member of the Sponsor Body holds and vacates office in accordance with the terms and conditions of the member’s appointment (subject to this Schedule).

(2) A Parliamentary member of the Sponsor Body holds and vacates office in accordance with terms and conditions set by the Sponsor Body (subject to this Schedule).

6 (1) A member must be appointed for a fixed term of not more than 3 years.

(2) Those responsible for setting fixed terms for members must have regard to the desirability of securing that appointments do not all expire at the same time.

(3) The reference in sub-paragraph (2) to those responsible for setting fixed terms is a reference to the House Commissions (in the case of the chair) and the Sponsor Body (in the case of other members).

7 The previous appointment of a person as a member does not affect the person’s eligibility for re-appointment.

Appointment of initial external members

8 (1) The person who, immediately before the commencement day, was the chair of the shadow Sponsor Body is to be treated as having been appointed on that day as the chair of the Sponsor Body in accordance with paragraph 2.

(2) Appointment by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) is to be treated as being for a term of 3 years.

(3) A person who, immediately before the commencement day—

(a) was a member of the shadow Sponsor Body (other than the chair), and

(b) was not a member of either House of Parliament,

is to be treated as having been appointed on that day as a member of the Sponsor Body in accordance with paragraph 3 (external members).

(4) Appointment by virtue of sub-paragraph (3) is to be treated as being for a term ending with the last day of the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which the shadow Sponsor Body was established.

(5) An appointment by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) or (3) ceases to have effect at the end of the period of 1 month beginning with the commencement day unless, before the end of that period, the appointment is confirmed by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(6) Paragraphs 2, 3 and 6 do not apply in relation to a member who is appointed by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) or (3).

(7) In this paragraph—

• “the commencement day” means the day on which section 2(1) comes into force;

• “the shadow Sponsor Body” means the body, established in July 2018 in connection with the restoration of the Palace of Westminster, which is known as the shadow Sponsor Body.

Remuneration for external members

9 The Sponsor Body may pay to an external member such remuneration and allowances as the Sponsor Body may determine.

Code of conduct

10 (1) The Sponsor Body must issue, and may from time to time revise, a code of conduct for its members.

(2) The code must in particular—

(a) incorporate the Nolan principles or such other similar principles as may be adopted by the Sponsor Body from time to time, and

(b) include provision about the disclosure of interests by the members of the Sponsor Body.

(3) “The Nolan principles” means the 7 general principles of public life set out in the First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (Cm 2850).

Resignation, suspension and removal

11 (1) In this paragraph “the appropriate authority” means—

(a) in relation to the chair, the House Commissions, and

(b) in relation to any other member, the chair.

(2) A member of the Sponsor Body may resign by giving notice in writing to the appropriate authority.

(3) The appropriate authority may without notice suspend a member of the Sponsor Body from office if it appears to the appropriate authority that the member—

(a) has failed without reasonable excuse to carry out the member’s functions, or

(b) is unable or unfit to carry out the member’s functions.

(4) The period of suspension must not exceed 3 months.

(5) The appropriate authority must review the suspension before the expiry of the period of suspension.

(6) Following a review, the appropriate authority may—

(a) revoke the suspension, or

(b) decide that the member should be removed from office.

(7) A decision under sub-paragraph (6)(b) does not have effect unless it is confirmed—

(a) in the case of an external member, by a resolution of each House of Parliament, or

(b) in the case of a Parliamentary member, by a resolution of the House of Parliament from which the member is drawn.

12 (1) A Parliamentary member ceases to be a member of the Sponsor Body if—

(a) the member ceases to be a member of the relevant House (but see sub-paragraph (4)),

(b) the relevant House orders the suspension of the member from the service of that House for a specified period of the requisite length,

(c) the member becomes—

(i) a member of either of the House Commissions, or

(ii) a Minister of the Crown,

(d) the member becomes a director of the Delivery Authority (other than a director within paragraph 1(1)(c) of Schedule 2), or

(e) in the case of a Lords member, the member is granted leave of absence in accordance with Standing Orders of the House of Lords.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) a specified period is “of the requisite length” if—

(a) where the period is expressed as a number of sitting days, it is a period of at least 10 sitting days, or

(b) in any other case, the period (however expressed) is a period of at least 14 days.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) it does not matter—

(a) when the period of suspension starts, and

(b) where that period is expressed as a number of sitting days, what provision (if any) is made by the relevant House regarding what does, or does not, count as a sitting day for the purpose of calculating that period.

(4) Where a Commons member ceases to be a member of the House of Commons on the dissolution of Parliament prior to a Parliamentary general election—

(a) sub-paragraph (1)(a) does not apply, and

(b) unless the person is re-elected to the House of Commons at the election (and subject to the earlier expiry of the person’s term of appointment), the person ceases to be a member of the Sponsor Body—

(i) on the appointment of a new Parliamentary member in the person’s place, or

(ii) if no new Parliamentary member is appointed, at the end of the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which the person ceases to be a member of the House of Commons.

(5) For the purposes of this Schedule (other than this paragraph), a person is to be treated as a member of the House of Commons for any period during which—

(a) the person continues to be a member of the Sponsor Body as a result of sub-paragraph (4)(a), and

(b) is not a member of the House of Commons.

(6) In this paragraph—

• “Commons member” and “Lords member” mean a person who is a Parliamentary member by virtue of being a member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords (as the case may be);

• “the relevant House”, in relation to a Parliamentary member, means the House of Parliament from which the member is drawn.

13 An external member ceases to be a member of the Sponsor Body on becoming—

(a) a member of either House of Parliament,

(b) a Minister of the Crown,

(c) a member of either of the House Commissions, or

(d) a director of the Delivery Authority (other than a director within paragraph 1(1)(c) of Schedule 2).

Interim chair

14 (1) The House Commissions may appoint one of the external members of the Sponsor Body to be its interim chair if—

(a) the office of chair is vacant, or

(b) the chair is suspended from office under paragraph 11(3).

(2) Appointment as interim chair is for a term ending on the earliest of—

(a) the appointment of a new chair,

(b) the revocation or expiry of the existing chair’s suspension, and

(c) the end of the interim chair’s term as an external member.

(3) The previous appointment of a person as interim chair does not affect the person’s eligibility for re-appointment as interim chair.