Parliament Flashcards
Three functions of parliament
- Scrutiny
- Representation
- Legislating
House of commons
650 MPs
Three types of peers in the House of Lords
Hereditary peers
Life peers
Lords spiritual
Hereditary peers
House of lords Act 1999 ended the right for all but 92 if these peers to sit in the house.
These peers are made up of elected peers by ballots, two are aoppointed by royalty.
Life peers
PM has the right to appoint members to the HoL for life, their title and right to sit in the lords cannot be inherited.
695 as of Novemnber 2016
Lords spiritual
Two archbishops and 24 senior bishops of the curch of england
Exclusive powers of the commons
- Right to insist on legislation, in case of conflict over legislation the Lords should ultimately gve way to the commons.
- Financial privilege, lords cannot delay or amend money bills
- The power to dismiss the executive, if a government is defeated on a motion of no confidence it must resign.
The parliament act 1911
The house of lords does not have a veto over legislation approved by the Commons, it can only delay bills passed in the Commons for up to 1 year.
- Because of this the lords is a revising chamber, it can propose amendments, if the Commons refuses to accept these the Lords has the option of delaying the bill by 1 year.
EXAMPLE - Hunting ACT 2004
The Salisbury Convention
States that the house should not vote against a bill that seeks to enact a manifesto commitment of the governing party on second or third readings.
Exclusive powers of the commons - Financial privilage
Conservative-liberal democrat coalition government invoked financial privilege during the final stages of the Welfare Reform Bill in 2012, the Lords were forced to back down.
Exclusive powers of the commons - Power to dismiss the executive
The government may only operate if they have the ‘confidence’ of the commons.
March 1979 the Labour government was defeated on a motion of no confidence, where James Callaghans labour lost by one vote.
Signficance of party balance in the Lords?
- No party has a majority in the Lords, so governments must win cross-party support for their legislation. For example the votes of liberal democrat peers proved to be crucial under labour and conservative governments in recent years.
This results in a increase in effectiveness in checking the power of the executive and forcing changes to legislative proposals.
Signifcance of enhanced legitimacy in the Lords?
The reformed lords has less hereditary peers and inherited peers, more elected by ballot members and members chosen by party leaders with a mandate. More willing to flex its muscles and provide a check on the executive/commons.
A more assertive Lords
Since the removal of most of the hereditary peers in 1999 the Lords have become more effective and more assertive, government defeats in the Lords have become more frequent.
E.G Blocked the Hunting Act 2004 and the Sexual Offences Act 2000
ESSAY E.G
The Blair and Brown labour governments were blocked more than 400 times in the House of Lords.
What is the significance of expertise present in the lords?
The Lords is filled with members who have considerable levels of expertise in other fields, this means they can sctutinise bills effectively on issues surrounding their field
ESSAY E.G
Lord Walton is a former president of the British Medical Accosiation
The Commons holds more power
- Lords can only delay bills, and suggest amendments, which can then be overturned by the Commons. ESSAY E.G in 2017 the Lords attempted to add amendments onto the passing of the Article 50 bill to trigger the exit from the EU which guaranteed EU citizens’ rights for those already living in the UK. This was swiftly overturned by the Commons.
- Commons can actually vote down legislation, unlike the Lords
- Commons has vote of no confidence option, unlike the Lords
- MPs are more independently-minded than in the past, so are less likely to toe the party line- this makes the Commons more assertive against the government
- Commons is democratically legitimate- they have more of a right to challenge government
- Committees and PMQs are used to scrutinise government- the Prime Minister does not appear before the Lords to be challenged.
The Lords holds more power
- Party control is much weaker as Lords don’t need to be re-elected, so the government can’t rely even on their own party peers backing them
- More political balance in the Lords- no one party dominates
- More expertise/specialist knowledge- this means bills are potentially more carefully and effectively scrutinised
- Peers are from a range of backgrounds, so represent different groups and interests in society- this gives them some legitimacy
- Measures in the Commons such as PMQs are ineffective at properly challenging the government
- Government tends to dominate Commons, usually having a majority, meaning bills can be passed fairly easily
The legislative process in the commons
- First reading
- Second reading
- Committee stage
- Report stage
- Third reading
- House of lords
The legislative process in the commons - first reading
The formal presentation of the title of the bill on the floor of the house by a minister from the responsible department, there is no debate or vote at this stage.
The legislative process in the commons - Second reading
The main debate on the bill, the government minister explains and justifies the objectives of the bill, the shadow minister resonds and backbenchers contribute to the debate.
The legislative process in the commons - Committee stage
Bills are sent a public bill comittee, where detailed scrutiny of each clause and amendment takes place. These comittees reflect the party strength of the commons and is dissolved afterwards
The legislative process in the commons - Report stage
Amendments made in the previous stage are considered by the rest of the commons. MPs not on the public comittee may have the oppurtunity to table amendments.
The legislative process in the commons - Third reading
A debate on the amended bill on the floor of the House, no further amendments are permitted.
The legislative process in the commons - House of lords
The bill is sent to the house of lords where these stages are repeated, amendments can be made and the commons have the oppurtunity to agree to them.
A bill may go back and forth between the two houses known as ‘parliamentary ping-pong’
Finally the Bill is sent for royal assent to be signed into law
Different types of Bills
Private members bills
Secondary legislation
Primary legislation
Private members bills
Initiated by backbench MPs rather than government ministers
- At the start of every session 20 names of MPs who wish to introduce a bill are drawn in a ballot.
- MPs have 10 minutes to make a speech to introduce a bill or talk about an aspect of exisitng legislation, few bills get beyonf the first hurdle so they can use this as a way to bring attention to bills.
- MPs can introduce bills through a presentation on the House Floor.
E.G
Murder Act 1965
Abortion Act 1967
BUT both had government support showing the importance of government support if private member bills are realisitically gonna be passed.
Secondary legislation
3,500 pieces of secondary legislation/statuatory instuments are introduced each year.
They are documents drafted by the government to make changes to a existing bill.
PMQs
- Takes place each wednesday at noon
- This is a oppurtunity for the leader of the opposition, and backbenchers to scrutinise the executive branch and their actions.
Pros of PMQs
- Places the PM in the spotlight and can provide a platorm for critisicm of certain issues.
ESSAY E.G Kier Starmer used it as a platform to question Boris on controverial issues of Partygate. - Media attention of certain failures.
- The BBC’s Daily Politics show often has its best ratings on a Wednesday, when it broadcasts PMQ live.
- Jeremy Corbyn attempted a new approach to PMQs and sourced questions from the public on their website.
Failures of PMQs
- ‘Punch and Judy’ politics
- PM can dodge questions and not neccesarily provide effective answeres
- In 1997 Blair replaced the two 15 minute sessions of PMQs with a single 30 minute session on wednesday, giving less oppurtunities to scrutinise the PM.
- Labour MP Gerald kaufman described PMQs as an ‘Exchange of pointless and useless declamations’.
- Many questions are set up by the government in order to say pre-prepared statments rather than put them on the spot and face real scrutiny.
Power of the opposition
- Right to ask 6 questions at PMQs.
- Vote against government legislation and provide scrutiny on the government.
- Harry the government by opposing legislative proposals and tabling amendments.
Less power of the oppositon party
- Institutional disadvantage, it cant draw upon the expertise of the civil service, and relies on limited state funding known as short money.
In 2015-16 the Labour party recieved £6.8 million in short money. - Limited oppurtunities to set the agenda, they are only permitted to choose the topic of debate on 20 days n the parliamentary year.
- Depends on the size of the government majority
Select comittee
The aim of these is to hold the government accountable for policy and decision making, and support parliament in scrutinising legislation.
Benefits of select comittees
- Select comittees sctrutinise the policies and actions of government, conducting detailed examinations of controversial issues.
ESSAY E.G In 2022 the house of commons passed a motion tabled by the leader of the labour party calling for Boris to be investigated by the Privileges Committee for having potentialy mislead parliament. - Since 2002, the Prime Minister has appeared twice yearly before the Liaison Committee to answer questions on the Government’s current policies.
ESSAY E.G In June 2014, the Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, a doctor who had previously been critical of the Government’s health policies, was elected as the new Chair of the Health Committee. University College London traced policy recommendations from seven select committees from 1997-2010 and found that the government acted upon 44% of their recommendations.
Failures of select comittees
- A government with a majority in the commons will also have a majotiy in the committees.
- Ministers and civil servants may not provide much infomation when questioned and access to documents may be denied.
- Governments can ignore recconmendations.
66% of all select comitte rulings/recommendations are ignored. - Select Committee Chairs are still paid significantly less than even the most junior minister (a Parliamentary-UnderSecretary), so, for salary and career minded MPs, it still might be much more tempting to follow the party whip and
work to get a ministerial position.
Examples of select comitte enquirrries
Foreign affairs committee inquiry 2016 into UKs intervention in Libya concluded that the UKs 2011 actions in Lyba were ill-concieved and that David Cameron was ultimately responsible.
Health select comitte 2011 helped pursuade the government into making significant changes to the Health and social care bill.
Wright Committee reform 2010
- One backbench motion per month should be routinely scheduled for debate.
- Members of departmental and similiar committe should be elected from within party groups by a secret ballot.
- Established the Back Bench Buisness Committtee
Select committee - Liason Committee
- Made up of the charis of the other select committee, can directly question the PM twice a year.
Government and select comitte
- Secret Ballot
- Cannot be both in government and in a select committee.
