The House of Lords has announced plans for a streamlined and more effective system to combat allegations of bullying and harassment after criticism over the action taken against the former Liberal Democrat peer Anthony Lester.
Lester, who was accused of sexually harassing a woman, quit the upper house in December, after a convoluted procedure in whichpeers blocked a suspension imposed against him, with some questioning the credibility of the alleged victim.
The new system would replace the privileges and conduct committee, made up of 16 peers, with a new conduct committee. This would have nine members – five backbench or crossbench peers, and four lay people, all with equal voting rights.
The revamp, outlined in a report by the existing privileges and conduct committee, would also change the code of conduct for members of the Lords to add explicit provisions on bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.
Other changes would include allowing complaints to be made via email or an independent helpline rather than only in writing.
Under the current system, while an investigation into alleged misconduct is undertaken by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, the upper house’s commissioner for standards, recommendations for a sanction are made by a subcommittee on Lords’ conduct.
Appeals are made to the privileges and conduct committee – as happened with Lester, who maintains his innocence – and any sanction is subject to a debate and vote in the Lords.
The debate about Lester, who was accused of trying to pressure a woman into having sex with him by promising to make her a baroness, led some peers to question the alleged victim’s credibility, prompting one female peer to walk out of the chamber in horror.
Under the proposed new system the commissioner for standards would decide on wrongdoing and on any necessary sanctions, with the new conduct committee acting as the appeal body for the peer against whom the allegations were made and the complainant.
Another recommendation is that while the Lords would vote on conduct committee reports and on sanctions against members found to have breached conduct rules this should happen without a debate.
John McFall, the former Labour MP and senior deputy speaker in the Lords who chairs the privileges and conduct committee, said the report marked “a significant change in the way the house will deal with allegations of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct against members”.
He said: “It will ensure we have an appropriate system to respond to complaints of that nature that everyone can feel confident in.”
The measures would most likely be amended after the publication of an independent report into bullying and harassment in the Lords by the barrister Naomi Ellenbogen, McFall said.
He said: “However, the proposals we are putting forward today represent a step change in improving how we handle allegations of bullying and harassment and making those processes more independent of members of the house. I hope this will reassure staff and others that they can feel confident to report inappropriate behaviour if it occurs.”
