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House of Lords Appointments Commission publishes 2007- 08 report and announces two new non party political peers
The current House of Lords Appointments Commission today published its final annual report and published the names of two new non-party-political peers.
The new non-party-political peers announced by the Prime Minister are:
* Miss Susan Campbell CBE, Chair of UK Sport, a body that works in partnership with the home country sports councils and other agencies to lead sport in the UK to world-class success.
* Mr David Pannick QC, a practising barrister who specialises in public law, human rights law and sports law.
The new peers will sit on the crossbenches in the Upper House. A total of 49 non-party-political peers have now been recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
The Commission's annual report for 2007-08 published today details their work in selecting and recommending non-party-political peers and vetting all nominees to the House of Lords.
Chairman, Dennis Stevenson said:
"This report marks the end of the appointment of the current Commission. We are being succeeded in October by a new Commission chaired by Lord Jay of Ewelme; we wish them well in the important, interesting and sometimes challenging task they are about to take on.
"I would like to give my thanks to all my colleagues for their support, professionalism and contribution to the Commission over the last eight years. We took a process that was previously carried out behind closed doors and opened it up for anyone to apply, through published processes and criteria. Since 2000 we have received over four thousand nominations from a wide range of people and we have been very impressed by the calibre of the nominees.
"It has been an honour to have been able to recommend 49 individuals to the cross-benches, and we hope that they will continue to make a valuable and active contribution. We have greatly enjoyed our work and are happy to be able to hand over a robust and independent system to our successors. "
The current Commission's term comes to an end on 30th September. The new Chairman, Lord Michael Jay, takes up post on 1st October. The new full membership of the Commission is due to be announced shortly by the Prime Minister's Office.
The annual report is available online from http://www.lordappointments.gov.uk
Notes to Editors
1. Further information on the Appointments Commission can be obtained from http://www.lordsappointments.gov.uk The Appointments Commission is a non-statutory advisory body set up by the Prime Minister to make recommendations for non-party-political peerages. The Commission's remit is to find people of distinction who will bring authority and expertise to the House of Lords. The Commission recommends individuals on merit and their ability to contribute effectively to the work of the House. The House of Lords Appointments Commission has now recommended a total of 49 non-party-political peerages to the Prime Minister.
2. Miss Susan Campbell CBE is the Chair of UK Sport, a non departmental public body that works in partnership with the home country sports councils and other agencies to lead sport in the UK to world-class success. She is also the Chair - and prior to that the Chief Executive - of the Youth Sport Trust, a charity that aims to build a brighter future for young people by enhancing the quality of their physical education and sporting opportunities. She was an adviser to the Department of Media, Culture and Sport and to the Department for Education and Skills between 2000 - 2007. Previously Miss Campbell was the Chief Executive of the National Coaching Foundation from 1985 to1995. She has worked as both a lecturer and teacher of physical education. Miss Campbell has also represented her country in netball and was the British Colleges Pentathlon champion. She has coached athletics and netball at every level and acted as team manager for national teams in basketball and at the World Student Games. In 2003 she was awarded the CBE for services to sport.
3. Mr David Pannick QC is a practising barrister who specialises in public law, human rights law and sports law. He was called to the Bar in 1979 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1992. He has sat as a Recorder of the Crown Court, as Deputy High Court Judge and also Chairman of Tribunals hearing sports law disciplinary cases. Mr Pannick has argued about 90 cases in the House of Lords, about 30 in the European Court of Human Rights and a further 30 in the European Court of Justice. Mr Pannick writes a fortnightly column in The Times on legal topics and has had a number of books published. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Public Law since 1991. He is also a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
4. The current membership of the House of Lords Appointments Commission was announced by the Prime Minister on 4th May 2000. The Chairman, Dennis Stevenson, is a crossbench peer. The Commission comprises two other non-party political members: Angela Sarkis and Felicity Huston. These members of the Commission were selected through open competition. The Commission also includes three members nominated by each of the three main political parties: Baroness Brenda Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde (Labour), Lord Douglas Hurd of Westwell (Conservative) and Lord Navnit Dholakia (Liberal Democrat).
5. The new Chairman Lord Jay of Ewelme GCMG takes up post on 1st October 2008. Lord Jay has been a crossbench peer since 2006 and served as the Prime Minister's Personal Representative to the G8 summits from 2005-2006. He was Permanent Under Secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service from 2002-2006.Prior to that he was the British Ambassador to France. Lord Jay is also Chair of Merlin, a medical charity and Vice Chair of Business for New Europe.
