Harriett Baldwin's two-year campaign to attempt to solve a complex constitutional issue has finally succeeded with the announcement of a Government commission expected to start in February. The West Lothian Commission will start in February next and report back to Parliament in March 2013. The Commission is expected to address the thorny issue of the voting rights of MPs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland In a speech made in the House of Commons yesterday (December 20) Harriett outlined her attempts to lobby a series of Ministers responsible for constitutional reform. As well as raising questions in the House, Harriett also managed to get her private member’s bill as far as a third reading before a narrow defeat. The Commission was announced by the Cabinet Office in September but the terms of reference and timings were due for announcement in October, but none materialised. Harriett, for the second year running, used her time in a Backbench Business Committee adjournment debate to raise the issue to press for a comprehensive plan to address the West Lothian question. Deputy Leader of the House David Heath responded to Harriett’s speech and confirmed that the Commission will commence in February and it is expected to report back to Parliament in 2013. Speaking after the debate Harriett commented: “I am pleased that we are finally able to make some headway in addressing this complex constitutional issue. “I am eagerly awaiting the detail on the terms of the Commission and will watch closely to see if we can address some of the important constitutional issues in the life of this Parliament.” FULL TEXT Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con): Mr Deputy Speaker, may I take the opportunity in this eclectic Christmas debate to wish you, your colleagues and all right hon. and hon. Members, as well as all parliamentary staff, a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year? I want to raise a topic of constitutional importance to a Government who have embraced parliamentary and constitutional reform with great enthusiasm: the West Lothian question. In fact, I would go so far as to say that all I want for Christmas is a West Lothian commission. I know that the Government share my enthusiasm to set up such a commission, because they have referred to it on many occasions. I think the first occasion in this Parliament was when the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper) said in July 2010 that he anticipated that the commission would be set up by autumn 2010. That was confirmed again later that July by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, who said that he would bring forward proposals in the autumn. However, by October we heard that, in fact, the aim was to announce plans for a commission by the end of 2010. Then, when I raised the subject in last year’s Christmas Adjournment debate, I was assured that we would get the announcement in the new year. When I asked whether that meant 2011, I was assured that the Government were happy to confirm that that was the case. Imagine my excitement, then, when 2011 arrived, and when we were told, in March, that the commission would shortly be established. As time progressed throughout the year, a debate on the West Lothian commission took place in Westminster Hall, at which the Parliamentary Secretary confirmed that, in referring to “this year”, he did indeed mean 2011. I was therefore very excited when a written ministerial statement was made on 8 September to assure the House that the commitment in the coalition’s programme for government to “establish a commission to consider the ‘West Lothian question’” would result in a commission being established after the conclusion of a “short process of consultation and further deliberation. I expect that this will be in the weeks after the House returns in October.”—[Official Report, 8 September 2011; Vol. 532, c. 28WS.] In the debate on my private Member’s Bill on 9 September, we again heard that the Government were keen to address this thorny constitutional topic as soon as possible. It is a problem that could become quite serious if it is not addressed. It has taken 100 years to get this far towards establishing a commission on the West Lothian question, and we must welcome the enormous progress that has been made. I was delighted when the Deputy Leader of the House was able to confirm last week that the announcement was to be made shortly. I am therefore pleased to be able to give him this additional chance today, while we are still in 2011, to embrace this issue with the enthusiasm that I know he shares and to announce the establishment of the West Lothian commission. So, without further ado, I shall sit down and eagerly await that announcement. | Hansard ... The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath): The hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin) said that this was an eclectic debate; “eclectic” does not begin to describe the task that lies ahead of me as I try to respond, in the next 10 minutes, to hon. Members who have spoken. As she has so many times raised the issue on which she spoke, and has not been given satisfaction from the Dispatch Box, I will deal with her point first and give her the statement that I think she was hoping for; the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), would perhaps have given it earlier, if he had had the opportunity. The commission on the West Lothian question will start work in February 2012, and will report by the end of the Session in spring 2013. My hon. Friend will make a further statement on the commission in the new year. | Hansard