ETVT the power of parliament has been radically enhanced by consitutional reform since 1997 Flashcards
House of Lords reform HAS
The 1999 House of Lords Act improved the power of the Lords by giving them greater legitimacy and therefore a greater mandate and confidence when challenging the government.
All but 92 Hereditary peers were removed in the Lords, this means that although they still remain a unelected chamber they are more confident and willing to challenge the government. The majority of the members were now life peers nominated by elected members of the commons, for example ex-PM Boris Johnson nominated Charlotte Owen to the Lords.
In the 2017-19 session there were 69 defeats inflicted by the lords, and in the 2013-14 session the lords considered 62 bills and made 1,686 amendments.
Mays government was often defeated in the lords, they defeated the government 15 times in a very short period in 2018 over the EU withdrawal bill.
Since the reform the number of defeats has massively risen, in the 1996-97 session the government was defeated 9 times in the lords whereas in the 2002-03 session there were over 80 defeats, this makes for better quality legislation passed by the commons and the lords. Reform clearly has been successful.
House of Lords reform HASNT
The 1999 House of Lords Act has not gone far enough in reforming the lords, the chamber still remains entirely unelected and there are still 92 hereditary peers, this means that their legitimacy is very limited and therefore they will often refrain from challenging parliament.
For example in the 2015-16 session the government suffered under 10 defeats.
In practise much of the Lords power is restricted by the Parliament Acts (1911) who means that they can only delay bills and amendments can be easily overturned. The Lords made several amendments to the Legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders Act (2012) but there were very easily overturned.
Furthermore the Acts give the commons ‘financial privilege’ which means the lords cannot delay money bills that authorise expenditure or taxation. The Lords made three key amendments to the Transparency of Lobbying Act (2014), but the commons overturned all three.
Reform still has not massively increased their legitimacy and there has been no improvement on their powers, therefore it has failed to dramatically increase parliaments power.
The Wright reforms have
The Wright reforms of 2010 helped set up the Backbench Business Committee, this is made up of elected backbench MPs, its main role is to determine what issues should be debated on the on day a week allocated to backbench business.
Before these reforms most of the parliamentary agenda was controlled by the government and the main opposition party leadership.
the Wright Reforms of 2009 have increased the influence of backbenchers. Firstly, the Backbench Business Committee provides them with an opportunity to put forward ideas for debate that might provide scrutiny of the government. For example, on the 21/04 a backbench debate was held on the two-child limit for universal credit – a key government policy.
Secondly, backbenchers may serve on Select Committees which since the Wright Reforms have seen committee chairs elected by the whole house and select committee members elected by their own party. This has substantially loosened the grip of the whips over Select Committee and increased their independence. For example, the DCMS Select Committee were critical of the Government’s Online Safety Bill saying it did not go far enough to tackle harmful content online – despite a Conservative majority on the Committee.
The wright reforms have given backbenchers more power over legislation and more able to scrutinise the government, therefore giving them more power.
Wright reforms havent
Essay plans for info, despite reforms backbenchers have little power
Supreme court reform has
2005 Constitutional reform act has strengthened and protected the power of parliament from the influence of the executive.
The 2005 CRA has made the UKSC more independent and therefore more willing to challenge the executive, therefore enhancing parliaments power.
Miller v Secretary of state for exiting the EU the UKSC ruled that May could not trigger article 50, to start the formal process of leaving the EU, without a vote in the commons.
UKSC decision in 2019 Miller v Prime minister, Boris Johnsons and the government’s decision to prorogued parliament for five weeks was unlawful, reasserting parliamentary sovereignty.
Supreme court reform hasnt
2005 constitutional reform act is not enforceable on the executive, ‘ultra vires’ is generally a recommendation and theoretically the executive is able to ignore such decisions made by the court.
The 2005 constitutional reform act has meant that they have more power to enforce the HRA on parliament legislation, meaning that some sovereignty has been lost and now instead resides in the UKSC and the Human Rights Act 1998.
In the case R v Secretary of state for international development 2018, the court found that the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 was incompatible with the HRA because different sex couples could not enter into civil partnership which breached their rights under article 14 of the HRA.
Parliament therefore was forced to amend the law the following year via the Civil partnership regulations 2019.
