Trying to Turn Parliament into a Model Workplace: UK, Canada and New Zealand

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter describes the steps taken to reform parliamentary workplaces in the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and New Zealand. There is a particular emphasis on the history of reforms in the UK, as a first mover in the creation of independent oversight of the parliamentary workplace and a source drawn on by later reformers. The three cases demonstrate the difficulties involved in creating robust systems to tackle sexual and sexist misconduct in parliaments. Where regimes are strongly independent—as in the UK—parliamentarians may perceive them as unfair and as a challenge to parliamentary sovereignty. Where they are under the control of parliamentarians—as in Canada—they lack critical independence. In New Zealand’s case, a lack of commitment within the parliament has made constructing a standards regime difficult.