9.3b Law Making in the Two Houses Flashcards
The Strathclyde Review
The Strathclyde Review in 2015 reviewed the relationship between the House of Commons and House of Lords.
The review recommended that the House of Lords should not be able to stop secondary legislation passing, but instead ask the House of Commons to rethink its proposal.
The Strathclyde review called for a review into whether secondary legislation could only be passed through the House of Commons’ law making process.
Exchange of amendments
Both the House of Commons and House of Lords exchanging amendments to bills with one another is a key form of interaction between both chambers, and is termed ‘ping-pong’.
The exchange of amendments takes place after the third reading stage and requires both chambers to agree on amendments to the bill and its final wording before it can become law.
Financial legislation
The House of Commons has greater power than the House of Lords when making financial laws.
The Parliament Act 1911 does not allow the Lords to amend money bills relating to government spending and taxes, which can only be changed in the House of Commons.
The Finance Act 2018 was financial legislation which Parliament passed in March 2018 without the House of Lords making amendments.
Reasonable time
There is a convention that the House of Lords will review laws relating to government policies within a reasonable period of time.
The House of Lords took a long time to start the committee stage of the 2002 Animal Health Bill which led to a four- month delay for it to become law.
The Salisbury Convention
The Salisbury Convention states that the House of Lords should not oppose the passing of legislation which was in the manifesto that the government was elected on.
The Convention says that the House of Lords should not vote against the bill at the second reading stage and not introduce amendments which change the meaning of a bill from how the government intended in its manifesto.
The Salisbury Convention is an example of how the House of Commons has primacy over the House of Lords in law making.
Secondary legislation
The House of Lords has the power to reject secondary legislation (laws created by ministers that add details to existing Acts of Parliament).
However, there is a convention that the House of Lords should not reject secondary legislation.
Secondary legislation amends existing laws to ensure they can operate practically and better in society.
The House of Lords has rarely stopped secondary legislation in the past, but did when voting against cutting tax credits as part of the Tax Credits Regulations 2015 Act.
