The legislative process. Flashcards
what is the first reading
The bill is introduced, and a date is set for the Second Reading. There is no debate or vote on the bill
at this stage.
what is the second reading
is the first time that the bill is debated. Normally a Minister will explain what
the bill is about and what the aim of the bill is. However, if it is a Private Member’s Bill then the Member proposing it will outline the bill. The bill will then be debated. A vote is taken, but it is a rare for a Government Bill to be opposed at the Second Reading. Only twice since 1945 has the Government lost a vote on a bill at the Second Reading.
what is the committee stage
After the Second Reading bills are sent to a Public Bill Committee
These Committees are specially set up to consider a particular bill. political parties are represented in proportion to the number of seats they hold.
results in lots of amendments being placed on the bills
Public Bill Committees can call in outside experts to give evidence, in
order to help MPs judge the bill. All bills go to Committee Stage but some do not go to a Public Bill Committee.
bills of major constitutional significance (e.g the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill) or Finance Bills go to a Committee of
the Whole House.
what is the third reading
usually no more changes take place
most important stage as it is confirmed if bill will be confirmed or rejected
what is parlimentary ping pong
where the bill goes from one house to the other and repeats all the stages above
what is the royal assent
king will give royal assent when bills have passe through both houses
this stage is only a technacality now
how has the legislative process been altered to be more modern
What has the back;ash been
- In 2020 parliament moved to being a hybrid parliaments, member could take part in proceeding without have to physcially appear
- In 2020 parliament began using electronic voting instead of standing in their division which is use in other parliaments such as scottish, this allowed more people to vote
- But was never extended in uk parliament after covid as Jacob rees mogg leader of commons said it was better to vote in person
- People argued that electronic voting encourages half-thought votes which restricts debates and disccusion that in person voting bring
what is the salsbury convention
it dictates that the House of Lords does not vote against an item that was part of the Government’s Manifesto. The aim is to ensure that the will of the people is carried out by enabling the party that won the election to carry out their key
what is the flaw of the salsbury convetion regarding the coalition government of 2010-15
Coalition Agreement between the Conservatives and
Liberal Democrats was an amalgamation of their respective manifestos, rather than something the public had voted for.
Despite originally claiming it was still valid, in 2011 the government admitted that “with the advent
of a coalition government the convention does not operate in the same way, if at all”.
what is a money bill
Commons hold financial privilege. This means that any bill which has the sole purpose of authorising spending, taxation or loans (a money bill) is not voted against by the House
of Lords
How has the financial privledge convention been broken by the house of lords
2015 house of lords voted to delay conservative gov’s plans to reduce amount poorer citizens could recieve in tax credits. Chancellor of the exchequer george osborn accused lords of breaching financial convention as was a goverment issue of spending.
Technically lords did not breach convention as voted against a Staturtory instrument not a finnace bill
What are the parliment acts of 1911 and 1949
mean that any bill (except
one to postpone a General Election) that passes the Commons in two successive Sessions can be presented for Royal Assent without the consent of the Lords, as long as certain time restrictions apply. This means that the House of Lords
can now only delay a bill, not prevent it from passing. However has only been invoked 4 times.
what are the green and white paper
Green paper is a consulting document which gov will outline broad ideas of what legislation it wishes to do, then will take opinons from diff groups
White paper set out details for future policy on a particular subject, will ofte be the basis for a bill to be put before parliament
what are the ways the government can cut short the legislative process (4)
-they can use whips to ensure public bill commitees process bill
-limit the time available for debate in commons
-make concession to win backbencher or members of the lords
-can threaten parliament acts to pass the legislation
what is an example to show how the government has dominated legislative agenda
between 1945 - 2019 only 148 / 19,919 divisons (votes) have been lost by the government.
Meaning 99.2% were won by gov
