FLSW
The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...
(born 8 February 1952) is a former
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
in the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
. He was formerly Clerk to the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...
from March 2001 to January 2007, the most senior official of the Assembly, and acted as the principal adviser to the Presiding Officer, responsible for all the services that are delivered to Assembly Members through the Assembly Parliamentary Service. In 2011, he was appointed as chair of the
Commission on Devolution in Wales
In-Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
. In 2017 he was a member of the Expert Panel on Electoral Reform set up by the Assembly.
Sir Paul Silk is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group (CRG), a cross-party pressure group chaired by
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, Baron Gascoyne-Cecil (born 30 September 1946) is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons, and in the 1990s he was L ...
, which seeks a new constitutional settlement in the UK by way of a new Act of Union. The Constitution Reform Group's Act of Union Bill 2018 was introduced as a
Private Member's Bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
by
Lord Lisvane
Robert James Rogers, Baron Lisvane, , FLSW (born 5 February 1950) is a British life peer and retired public servant. He served as Clerk of the House of Commons from October 2011 until August 2014.
Following his elevation as a Life Peer in 201 ...
in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
on 9 October 2018, when it received a formal first reading. The Bill has been described by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
as "one to watch" in the current Parliament.
In 2018, Silk was appointed Chair of the Membership Selection Panel of Glas Cymru. From 2019 to 2021 he was Deputy Chair of the Representative Body of the Church in Wales. He is a member of the UK Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee.
Education
Silk was born in
Crickhowell
Crickhowell (; , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community (Wales), community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire.
Location
The town lies on th ...
,
Powys
Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...
. He was educated at
Christ College, Brecon
Christ College, Brecon, is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school, located in the cathedral and market town of Brecon in mid-Wales. It currently caters for pupils aged 4–18 years.
History
Christ College was founded by Roya ...
;
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
;
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
(USA) and the Open University.
He is currently an honorary Professor at the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University an Honorary Fellow of Aberystwyth University and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales In 2019, he was made an Honorary Doctor of the University by the Open University.
Professional career
Silk served as House of Commons Clerk for a total of almost 25 years (1975–77, 1979–2001 and 2007–10), clerking at different times three departmental Select Committees, including the Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Committees.
Silk is a former Clerk of the Welsh Grand Committee. Clerk in charge of the Government of Wales Bill and contributed to drafting the first Standing Orders of the National Assembly. He has also worked as Presidential Adviser in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, and has participated in a number of programmes for emerging democracies. He has written and lectured on Parliament and the Constitution.
Silk was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...