UK Parliament Part 2 (Legislative and Scrutiny)

How does a public bill get made?

When a government is elected, if a department has a proposal for a bill it wats included in the legislative programme, it must submit the bill to the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee of the Cabinet (PBL)

Give 3 stages of the legislative process?

• Second Reading

• Committee Stage

• Report Stage

What is the Second Reading, and give an example of it?

Second Reading: MPs debate and vote on the overall principles of the bill to decide if it should continue.

EU Withdrawal Bill 2017- During the 2nd reading stage MPs debated the principles of transferring EU law into UK law after Brexit. This bill passed this staged 326-290, confirming Parliament supported moving ahead with Brexit legislation.

What is the Committee Stage, and give an example of it?

Committee stage: A smaller committee of MPs examine the bill line by line and considers detailed amendments.

Online Safety Bill 2021- MPs scrutinised detailed clasues on children’s safety and harmful content, key technical definitons like harm were amended.

What is the report stage, and give an example of it?

Report Stage: When all MPs can review the amended bill and propose further changes before it moves on.

Domestic Abuse Bill 2020- MPs introduced major amendments, including adding ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’ protections and stronger support for victims.

What is the first stage of the legislative process?

First Reading: It is the formal introduction to Parliament with no debate, simply announcing its title and scheduling to the Seoond Reading.

3 criteria used to assess whether Parliament is fulfilling its legislative function?

Ability to Pass Legislation in a Timely Manner- If Parliament is slow, the Government’s agenda stalls, delaying policy delivery and creating uncertainty.

Quality of Legislation Produced- Passing many bills quickly is meaningless if the legislation is poorly drafted and ineffective. Also legislation must be necessary, effective, clear and accessible.

Democratic Legitimacy- Legislation must hav broad political support to maintain public trust and avoid claims of executive overreach

3 ways the government can control the legislative process?

• Timetabling Power

• Party Whipping

• Secondary Legislation

How can the government use timetablling power to control the legislative process?

The Government can control how much parliamentary time is allocated to each stage of a bill in the Commons. This allows them to accelerate, delay, or limit debates to their advantage.

EU WIthdrawal Bill 2018- It had a tightly managed timetable to meet Brexit deadlines

How can the government use party whips to control the legislative process?

The government ensures MPs vote according to party policy at all stages.

Rishi Sunak (2023)- Sunak used whips to get Conservative MPs to back the government on the Illegal Migration Bill

How can the governemnt use secondary (delayed) legislation to control the legislative process?

The government can make detailed rules or implement policies without going through the full primary legislative process, using powers granted in Acts of Parliament.

Corona Regulations (2020-21) many were passed as secondary legislation under the Public Health Act 1984, allowing rapid response.

Example to prove parliament can pass bills in a good amount of time?

CoronaVirus Act (2020)- Bill was introduced on 19th March 2020 and received royal assent on the 25th March 2020

Example to disprove that parliament can pass bills in a good amount of time?

EU Withdrawal Act (2018)- It was introduced on in July 2017 but received royal assent on 26th June 2018, to become a law, despite the government heavily prioritising the bill, Parliamentary debates, amendments and oppostion slowed the process down, highlighting that Parliament can not always pass legislation quickly.

Example to prove that parliament produce a good quality of legislation?

Online Safety Act (2023)-  Designed to regulate online harms, including illegal content, cyberbulling, and harmful material affecting children. It had clear definitions, and it also had detailed duties and enforcements.

Example to disprove Parliament produces good quality legislation

Investigatory Powers Act (2016)- Expanded government suveillance powers, including collection of phone data. Reson why it wasn’t good quality is because it was extremely long and complex with over 400 pages, also there were many vague provisions, stuff which were left unclear such as who could access data and under what conditions.

Example to prove parliament fulfilling its legislative function in terms of democratic legitimacy?

Domestic Abuse Act (2021)- This aimed to strengthen protections for victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales. It is deemed as democratically legitimate as there were full debates, amendments, as well as cross party support

Example to disprove parliament fulfilling its legislative function in terms of democratic legitimacy?

EU WIthdrawal Act (2018)- Prepare UK law for leaving the EU, and ensure a smooth transition. Very rushed timetable, heavy ministerial powers, and limited debate.

3 mechanisms through which parliament can hold the government to account?

• Through Debates

• Through PMQs

• Use of Select Committees

Example of Parliament using the debate mechanism to hold the government to account?

David Cameron (2013)- When he proposed military action on Syria, a debate was held, which then led to a vote against the military action of 285-272. However the government controls most of the debate timetable making it insignificant.

Example of Parliament using the mechanism of PMQs to hold the government to account?

Keir Starmer (2024)- He challenged Rishi Sunak about NHS waiting times in January 2024, he also provided evidence of delays and accused the then Conservative Government of failing to manage the health service. However insginificant as they look performative, Cameron frequently used prepared one-liners such as ‘Calm down, dear’

Example of Parliament using the mechanism of select committees to hold the government to account?

Select Committees: Groups of MPs or Lords in Parliament set up to scrutinise the work of the government departments.

Amber Rudd (2018)- Held to account over the Windrush Scandal, cross-party MPs exposed policy failing through evidence-based questioning, leading to her resignation in April 2018.

However only 40% of select committee recommendations were accepted from 1997-2010

2 criterias I can use to assess whether Parliament is effective at its scrutiny function?

• Power to highlight current issues with government policies/actions (e.g access to documents and can all on ministers or officials)

• Impact on government behaviour or policy

Example to prove that Parliament is effective at its scrutiny function as it has the power to highlight current issues with government policies/actions?

Amber Rudd (2018)- Parliament used its mechanism of select committees to highlight current policy failings and hold a minister to account. In this case it was the Windrush Scandal which exposed Rudd lying about deportation targets.

Example to disprove that Parliament is effective at its scrutiny function because it doesn’t have the power to highlight current issues with government policies/actions?

Chilcot Inquiry (2016)- The issue was the UK governments decision to join the Iraq War.  Despite Parliament’s formal power to question the government, the scrutiny failed to uncover key failings in real time. Most details only came after the report was published in 2016, which was 13 years after the invasion.

Example to prove that Parliament is effective at its scrutiny function, as it has an impact on government behaviour or policy?

Amber Rudd (2018)- Questioning directly influenced goverment behaviour, creating transparency, and forcing policy changes, such as the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Example to disprove that Parliament is effective at its scrutiny function, as it doesn’t have an impact on government behaviour or policy?

Rishi Sunak (2024)- When questioned by Starmer repeatedly on NHS waiting times and pressure on hosptials, Sunak kept citing that he had a ‘ had a plan to reduce waiting times’ , however no immediately policy changes resulted from Starmers persistent questions.