§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn)My Lords, it is my duty to notify your Lordships that I have received the following letter from the Clerk of the Parliaments, Sir Michael Davies:
Dear Leader of the House, I should be grateful if you would inform the House that I have asked the Prime Minister to submit to Her Majesty the Queen my resignation from the office of Clerk of the Parliaments with effect from Monday, 14 July. The Prime Minister has indicated to me that Her Majesty will be informed.I shall have held the office for some 6½years, during a period of very great change in the House of Lords. The composition of the House, its working practices and its administration have all been more fundamentally altered during my clerkship than during that of any of my predecessors. The issue of further House of Lords reform remains unsettled, but I believe that it is now right to make way for someone who will take forward the many management and procedural reforms which have recently been introduced.It has been an immense privilege to have held my historic office at such a challenging time. I have enjoyed my 39 years in the House of Lords more than I can say. I cannot imagine a friendlier place in which to work and I shall take my leave with nothing but happy memories. I shall follow with great interest any progress towards further changes in the House of Lords, trusting that its current role in our parliamentary system is enhanced rather than diminished.Please would you convey to all Members of the House my thanks for their friendship, co-operation and many kindnesses throughout my career.Yours sincerely, Michael Davies".Following receipt of Sir Michael's letter, I consulted the Lord Chancellor, the Leaders of the other two political Parties in the House and the Convenor of the Cross-Bench Peers, and it has been agreed by us all that a successor to Sir Michael should be appointed following a trawl among the staff of this House, the staff of the House of Commons and the staff of the devolved Assemblies. That decision should in no way be seen as a criticism of the manner in which Sir Michael's colleagues at the Table have been seen to perform their duties, but rather as a recognition that modern appointment procedures should apply to this very senior and crucial post. The timetable set out for the trawl should mean that the recommendation of a successor to Sir Michael can be made to Her Majesty early in May.1306 I am sure that it will be your Lordships' wish, in due course, to pay tribute to the service of Sir Michael in this House. I am advised that the proper manner of doing that is for the Leader of the House to table a Motion recording the House's appreciation of Sir Michael's services.