Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 is an Act on the Parliament of the United Kingdom which reformed the Royal Prerogative and made other significant changes.

The Act put the civil service on a statutory footing for the first time. Among other provisions, it requires members of the House of Lords to be domiciled in the United Kingdom for tax purposes, failing which they lose their seats in parliament. Five members of the House lost their seats under this provision, namely:

• The Lord Bagri
• The Baroness Dunn
• The Lord Foster of Thames Bank
• The Lord Laidlaw
• The Lord McAlpine of West Green

With regard to Parliamentary approval for the ratification of treaties, it gave the Ponsonby Rule a statutory footing, but did not place the declaration of war and the deployment of the British armed forces onto a similar statutory footing, as was first intended when the bill came to Parliament, leaving them instead to the Royal Prerogative, as before.

The Act exempts some members of the Royal Family from the Freedom of Information Act (having been enacted in 2011).

See also

• Constitution of the United Kingdom
• Declaration of war by the United Kingdom

External links

• Text of the Act
• List of votes