The newly created Political and Constitutional Reform Committee decided at its first meeting this week to scrutinise the government’s proposals:

1. to hold a national referendum on using the alternative vote system at general elections, to reduce the size of the House of Commons, and to equalise the size of parliamentary constituencies, and

2. to establish fixed-term Parliaments of five years.

Labour MP Graham Allen, the committee chair, said

I would also like to hear from you about how we can involve the widest number of people in giving their views, not least via new media.

Government bills to implement these proposals are expected to begin their passage through Parliament later this month. Some information on the proposals were included in the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on 5 July.

The committee will hold its first public hearing on Thursday 22 July into the government’s proposal to hold a referendum on changing the way in which MPs are elected to the Alternative Vote (AV).

The session is also likely to touch on the government’s proposal to have fewer MPs representing more equal numbers of electors, and to have fixed-term parliaments of five years. The session will take place on, at 10.00 am, in the Wilson Room, Portcullis House.
The witnesses will be:
· Peter Facey, Unlock Democracy
· Dr Michael Pinto-Duschinsky
· Dr Martin Steven, Electoral Reform Society.

The committee will be holding a number of public hearings in July and September. Witnesses will be confirmed at a later date.

How to respond
Responses should be submitted as soon as possible, and by Friday 3rd September at the latest. Please send your views by email to pcrc@parliament.uk (doesn’t seem to work yet).

If you do not have access to email, you may send a paper copy of your response to:
Clerk of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee,
Committee Office,
First Floor,
7 Millbank,
London SW1P 3JA.

Each submission should:
* be no more than 3,000 words in length;
* begin with a short summary in bullet point form;
* have numbered paragraphs; and
* be in Word format or a rich text format with as little use of colour or logos as possible.

Written submissions will usually be treated as evidence to the Committee and may be published as part of a final report. If you object to your response being made public in a volume of evidence, please make this clear when it is submitted.

Via a press release

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

   Public invite for opinions on vote reform plans http://bit.ly/ac9ugr

2. Hannah Claytor

   Public invite for opinions on vote reform plans. http://bit.ly/ac9ugr

3. TCK GR

   @thegreatgonzo Public invited for opinions on vote reform: The newly created Political and Constitutional Reform C… http://bit.ly/9CFhW3

4. Therese

   Keep an eye on this (apparent) Cabinet Office initiative asking for public views on voting reform: http://bit.ly/aeEw77

5. Therese

   Keep an eye on this (alleged) @cabinetofficeuk initiative asking for public views on voting reform: http://bit.ly/aeEw77

6. Police State UK

   What do you think about voting reform? Tell the Political &Constitutional Reform Committee: http://bit.ly/9aa69E