1.2 How the constitution has changed since 1997

Question 1

what are the aims of constitutional reform?

Answer 1

• try and improve the political system and/or to address problems which have previously developed
• constitutional reform allows the system to change and evolve, rather than have revolutionary crises

Question 2

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what was the aim of parliamentary reform- House of Lords?

Answer 2

• remove hereditary peers (e.g Dukes)
• replace completely with elected chambers

Question 3

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with parliamentary reform- House of Lords act 1999?

Answer 3

• the first stage was to remove the hereditary peers. there was, however, some obstruction to this and the government had to compromise by allowing 92/753 peers to remain in their seats , known as the cranborne compromise
• stage 2 was to replace the remaining house of lords with an elected or party elected chamber but this ran into more obstruction and was taken off the agenda
• although the 1999 act was a limited reform, it did have the effect of making the lords a larger appointed chamber as well as reducing the total number of eligible members, from 1330 to 669 in march 2000.

Question 4

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what was the aim of parliamentary reform- House of commons?

Answer 4

• introduce select committees= greater scrutiny of government
• give more powers to backbench MPs

Question 5

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with parliamentary reform- House of Commons?

Answer 5

• in 2010, labour introduced a system for electing members of the select committee by the whole chamber of the HOC. the other chairs of the committees are then allocated to parties based on MPS in the House of Commons
• in 2010, a backbench business committee was established

Question 6

constitutional reform 1997-2010: how successful was parliamentary reform- House of Commons?

Answer 6

• backbench MPs had more power as the 2010 reform gave MPs control over 20 parliamentary days to debate issues of their choosing. this represented a small increase in backbench power
• in 2010 select committees were elected by the whole chamber rather than party leaders leading to more scrutiny as they had more independence

Question 7

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what was the aim of human rights reform?

Answer 7

introduce European convention on human rights into British law

Question 8

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with the human rights reform?

Answer 8

• in 1998 the uk introduced the HRA and its provisions came into force in 2000. the act incorporated the ECHR into UK law. the convention became binding on all public bodies
• however, the convention is not strictly binding on parliament, though any laws that contravene can only be passed with overwhelming support
• the government can repeal it at any time and the HRA would no longer be enforced

Question 9

constitutional reform 1997-2010: how successful was the human rights reform?

Answer 9

• the act of 1998 did incorporate the ECHR into uk law, and in practice it is binding on all public bodies- judges can enforce the convention
• however the convention is that the government can contravene if there is overwhelming support to, and it can be repealled at any time
• unentrenched constitution, each parliament could repeal it

Question 10

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what was the aim of ‘freedom of information reform’?

Answer 10

• create a more open and transparent system. anyone can request information

Question 11

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with ‘freedom if information reform’?

Answer 11

• before the act, much of the government was done in secret, behind closed doors. the act was introduced so people can get information. the security services are exempt
• in 2008, a request was made by the information tribunal to release details of expenses claims made by MPs, parliament attempted to block the request through the high court but failed

Question 12

constitutional reform 1997-2010: how successful was with ‘freedom if information reform’?

Answer 12

• it does allow information to be requested that the government cannot block, however it is not all of parliament ad information does not have to be disclosed if it was felt it might prejudice the activities of government
• exposes government scandal and holds them to account

Question 13

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what were the aims of electoral reform?

Answer 13

• electoral reform concerns that the FPTP system is not democratic

Question 14

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with the electoral reform?

Answer 14

• labour in 1997 introduced a commission to investigate the matter of electoral reform, led by Lord Jenkins
• when the report published its preference for a system called AVT, the enthusiasm for electoral reform had decreased

Question 15

constitutional reform 1997-2010: how successful was electoral reform?

Answer 15

• while nothing was done to change the English voting system, when devolutions electoral system was considered, they had different systems to avoid 2 party domination
• Scotland and Wales= the additional member system
• NI= the single transferable vote

Question 16

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what was the aim of establishment of the Supreme Court?

Answer 16

establish full independence of the judiciary

Question 17

constitutional reform 1997-2010: what happened with the Supreme Court reform?

Answer 17

the constitutional reform at 2005 was passed:
1. separation of judiciary and government- the judicial role od Lord chancellor was largely removed
2. a separate court opened in 2009 from the HOL
3. a judicial appointments committee was setup to ensure all candidates should be suitable using legal consideration

Question 18

constitutional reform 1997-2010: how successful was Supreme Court reform?

Answer 18

• the gov. still has final say on judges but they must have approval of JAC
• successful in introducing independent judiciary but the cannot stop laws only advise on them

Question 19

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what happened with electoral reform?

Answer 19

• the coalition had a referendum for the ‘AVS’ vote but only 32% voted yes
• many saw that the lib dens should’ve negotiated for a referendum on the ‘AMS’ or ‘STV’ systems as ‘AVS’ was seen as confusing and undemocratic

Question 20

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was electoral reform?

Answer 20

• the reform was very unsuccessful, although they attempted to make changes with the referendum, the choice of reform was poor and another referendum was not offered as the failure of the ‘yes’ campaign ruled out the possibility of reform for a generation

Question 21

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was city devolution outside London like and was it successful?

Answer 21

2010-15 attempts were made to introduce directly elected mayors to major cities across England, moddelled on London. Parliament granted permission for the 12 largest cities in England to hold referendums on whether or not to have a directly elected mayor, while Doncaster would vote on whether or not to retain their elected mayor. Liverpool and Leicester councils chose to have directly elected mayors and Doncaster did not vote to retain its elected mayor, but only one of the ten other major English cities (Bristol) actually voted to have directly elected mayors. Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds were among the nine major cities to reject the governments policy of spreading city-based devolution.

Question 22

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was the fixed term parliament act 2011?

Answer 22

• wanted to make elections in the HOC fixed at every 5 years
• aimed to give stability to the coalition
• the law did allow for an early general election if the PM secured 2/3 majority

Question 23

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was the fixed term parliament act?

Answer 23

-it was successful until 2022 when Johnson repealed it. it aimed to give more stability to the coalition and be a permanent change
- temporary success for the coalition

Question 24

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was the House of Lords reform (2011 and 2014)?

Answer 24

• wanted 300 lords but agreed to 450 until 91 conservatives rebelled against the gov. (2011)
• the 2014 bill allowed lords to retire or resign while those who have been imprisoned can be excluded

Question 25

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was HOL reform?

Answer 25

• not completely reached the goal, Clegg wanted 300 peers but the bill allowed 450 until conservatives rebelled
• the upper chamber is still unelected and undemocratic
• unsuccessful but lords can now resign/ retire

Question 26

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was the British bill of rights?

Answer 26

• conservatives wanted to replace the HRA with a British Bill of rights outside control of ECHR
• conservatives emphasised the need for the bill of rights to replace the HRA to ensure decisions are made by parliament and not judges

Question 27

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was the British bill of rights?

Answer 27

• although Raab introduced a British bill to parliament in June 2022, following the fall of Johnson, the bill was stalled
• unsuccessful- doesn’t exist

Question 28

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what is equal constituency size reform?

Answer 28

• parliament wanted to reduce constituency boundaries
• the aim was to bring down the numbers in the commons from 650 to 600

Question 29

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was equal constituency sizes reform?

Answer 29

• unsuccessful- doesn’t change as a result of payback for the failure by the conservatives to support the HOL reform the previous year

Question 30

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was recall of MPs reform (2015)?

Answer 30

• allows MPs to be recalled by a petition if the MO is sentenced to prison or suspended

Question 31

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was recall of MPs reform?

Answer 31

• successful but only triggered if suspended
• example does in 2023 with Margaret ferrior
• still exists

Question 32

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how was devolution further extended to Scotland in 2016?

Answer 32

in 2016 the new cons. government was forced to grant further powers to the Scottish government. this was in response to the surge in nationalist feeling following a close result in 2014. this gave a great financial autonomy to Scotland

Question 33

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was further devolution to Scotland in 2016?

Answer 33

• gave them more autonomy
• however still calls for another referendum
• SNP still leading party

Question 34

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how was devolution further extended to Wales in 2017?

Answer 34

in the Wales act in 2017, they were granted similar levels of legislative and fiscal powers and responsibility to those of Scotland

Question 35

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful was further devolution to Wales in 2017?

Answer 35

• no calls for a referendum
• parliament is still in session

Question 36

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what is the West Lothian question?

Answer 36

an issue raised in 1977 by the labour mp Tam Dalyell, which concerned the problem of MPs sitting in the HOC and representing devolved areas, such as Scotland, Wales and NI, being able to vote on matters that would only effect England, while those English MPs could not vote on those issues that have been passed to devolved bodies, such as education and healthcare

Question 37

constitutional reform 2010-2015: example of West Lothian question in action?

Answer 37

it wa sonly a result of Scottish MPs voting to increase student tuition fees to £3000 per year in 2002 that the measure passed, despite the fact it would not effect Scottish students

Question 38

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was proposed as a result of the West Lothian question

Answer 38

the conservatives introduced English votes for English laws which was an additional stage in the passage pf legislation.

Question 39

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how does English votes for English laws work?

Answer 39

if the speaker determined that a bill only concerned England or only England and Wales, then that bill could by vetoed by a vote of MPs representing only those regions

Question 40

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what was the problem with EVEL?

Answer 40

it did not however ensure that measures desired by a majority of English, or English and welsh, MPs could be passed, as happened with extensions to Sunday trading in 2016. this passed the EVEL stage but was then defeated by a vote of the whole chamber, with SNP MPs voting against it, despite the fact that Scotland already had longer trading hours and would not be directly affected by the bill

Question 41

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how has devolution further been extended to cities?

Answer 41

the cons party that took office in 2015 was committed to granting more autonomous powers to large cities as a means of tackling raw longstanding issues of underperformance in England’s major cities, including housing, business and transport issues. in October 2015, the chancellor announced that combined authorities would be allowed to keep all the revenue from business rates rather than giving it to the central exchequer, but only if they agreed to having a directly elected mayor would be accountable and would chair the authority. this was enacted in the cities and local government devolution act in 2016.

Question 42

constitutional reform 2010-2015: how successful has further devolution to cities been?

Answer 42

as of 2021, there are now 8 of these metro-mayors where combined authorities have been accepted a devolution deal and have elected mayors. these regions have grown far beyond city-based devolution, with the 8 currency metro-regions covering nearly 12 million people, or more than 21% of the English population

Question 43

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what powers does Cambridgeshire have as a result of devolution?

Answer 43

• £600 million 30 year investment fund
• apprenticeship grants for employers
• £170 million affordable housing dun
• planning for health and social care integration

Question 44

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what powers does Liverpool have as a result of devolution?

Answer 44

• £900 million 30 year investment fund
• apprenticeship grants for employers
• £134 transforming cities fund
• compulsory purchase powers for housing

Question 45

constitutional reform 2010-2015: what powers does West Yorkshire have as a result of devolution?

Answer 45

• £1.1 billion 30 year investment fund
• adult education budget
• access to a brownfield remediation fund of £400 million
• smart ticketing
• £317 million transforming cities fund