The committee will call for views on making the parliamentary estate more accessible to disabled people and making daily business easier to understand. It will cover physical improvements that could be made to the Palace of Westminster separately from a wider restoration project, which is currently in limbo ahead of a vote later this year.
Powell identified a host of changes that could be made sooner, such as redesigning heavy doors and making reasonable adjustments to MPs’ offices or the location of their offices.
Public understanding
The committee is also expected to focus on areas where there is a gap between the technical language used in the chamber and the public’s understanding.
Powell highlighted the example of “private members’ bills,” which some have argued should be renamed “backbench” or “non-government” bills to avoid confusion.
She said the committee wants to address “accessibility for the public” where the “names given to things … are not easily understandable for what they actually are.”
The inquiry is not expected to address etiquette in the chamber, which forbids MPs from using “you” to address others — and bans accusations of lying or hypocrisy. But it may consider dropping the use of “chairman” in favor of the gender-neutral “chair.”
The Commons leader admitted that while many of these issues had been a source of concern at Westminster for years, the influx of new MPs at last year’s election had helped create an appetite for change.
Powell said: “We’ve heard from new MPs in particular and new members of staff, who have just found some things that we [do] aren’t really acceptable in the modern age, and so if that’s not the job of a modernization committee, then what is?”