Schedule: Further provision about members and procedure of the Commission
20.Paragraph 2 places two restrictions on how the House of Commons may make a resolution appointing an external member to the Commission. First, such a motion may be made only with the agreement of the Commission. Second, the person being appointed must have been selected by the parliamentary members of the Commission on the basis of fair and open competition.
21.Paragraphs 3 and 4 amend the 1978 Act to reflect the new terminology of “parliamentary members” introduced by this Act.
22.Paragraph 3 also amends the 1978 Act to include in the definition of ex officio member of the Commission the Clerk of the House and Director General of the House of Commons.
23.Paragraph 5 allows the Commission to make formal delegations of its functions concerning staff (such as those relating to pay and conditions) to any member of staff it chooses rather than just the heads of any House Department.
24.Paragraph 6 provides the Commission with the option to appoint one of its members other than the Speaker to take the Chair at a Commission meeting in circumstances other than the absence of the Speaker, which is the only circumstance in which this can happen at present.
