Parliament P2
The UK has a fusion of powers, meaning that the three elements of the state (legislature, executive and judiciary) work together. The executive sits in the legislature and, until recently, so did the judiciary. The 2005 Constitutional Reform Act made the judiciary independent of the legislature and executive.
Parliament is sovereign, meaning it is the UK’s highest authority. Parliament must pass all laws except for devolved powers.
Government in Parliament
The government’s cabinet comprises the most senior figures who run the government. The top four jobs in the cabinet are Prime Minister, Chancellor, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary.
Selecting members
Members are elected at General Elections and by-elections by a first-past-the-post voting system . There are currently 650 members of the House of Commons. This system of electing members gives the actions of the house legitimacy.
Roles
1: Passing Legislation
Before a law becomes law, it is known as a bill
There are other ways legislation can be introduced to the House of Commons:
Green paper: consultation document in which ideas about a particular topic or subject will be discussed.
White paper: a more definite proposal of the green paper.
General committee/bill committee: a group of people who work on the bill from the first reading to the final vote.
2: Raising and spending public money
The budget is put before Parliament and discussed which can also be discussed and debated in various committees :
3: Scrutinising the Government
Early Day Motions: short period at the beginning of a parliamentary session (day) that allows MPs to flag issues. Some critics refer to EDMs as “parliamentary graffiti” as they aren’t an effective method of scrutiny.
Question Time: time to scrutinise the Prime Minister or Secretaries of State on any issue. The Prime Minister and Secretaries of State have time to answer.
4: Ensuring the voices of citizens are heard
House of Commons is an elected chamber. MPs are supposed to redress their constituents’ grievances and bring any local issues to light in Parliament.
5: Act as a focus for national debate
The House of Commons is the home of national debate, and national issues are brought to light in the House. In August 2013, there was a debate in Parliament to discuss air strikes in Syria, bringing the issue to greater attention nationwide.
Selecting Members
There is no maximum number of members of the House of Lords. In February 2021, there were 803 members from a range of parties. The Prime Minister decides members of the House of Lords. There are three main types of peers:
Hereditary: someone who is a Lord because of the family they were born into.
Life: someone who is a Lord because the Prime Minister chose them to be.
Lord Spiritual: bishop or significant figure in a religious organisation in the UK.
Reform
1909: Chancellor David Lloyd George came up with the “people’s budget”, which was so damaging to the upper classes that the House of Lords voted overwhelmingly against it. However, this went against the Salisbury Convention that the Lords never challenged financial bills from the House of Commons. The Lords therefore had to approve legislation that they disagreed with.
1911 Parliament Act: The Lord’s power to veto was replaced by the power to delay by up to two years.
1949 Parliament Act: The Lord’s power to delay was reduced to up to one year.
1958 Life Peerages Act: introduced life peers.
1999 House of Lords Reform: removed the majority of hereditary peers.
2014 House of Lords Reform Act: Lords could now be removed for having prison sentences, disqualified for non-attendance, and peers could resign or retire.
2015 House of Lords (Expulsion & Suspension) Act: allows the House to expel or suspend members.
2015 Lords Spiritual (Women) Act: women Church of England bishops could now become Lords Spiritual.
Roles
The Lords can:
Debate legislation that has been sent from the House of Commons.
Initiate legislation
Delay legislation
Hold general debates
Lords have more experience and time than the Commons. The Lords have expertise and don’t represent anyone or belong to constituencies. The Lords are not elected, so they are said to lack legitimacy.
Comparative powers of the Houses
Which house is more powerful?
Exclusive Powers of the House of Commons
Vetoing legislation.
Approving the government’s budget.
A vote of no confidence can dismiss a government and trigger a General Election.
Representing constituencies.
Types of bills
Public bill
Introduced by government ministers for their respective department.
By far the most important and most common type of bill.
For example: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (2021).
Private bill
Sponsored by an organisation with the intention of changing the law.
A group affected has the right to petition parliament against it.
For example: London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act (2013).
Private member’s bill
Affects the whole population, introduced by a backbencher or member of the Lords.
MPs who have applied for a private member’s bill are drawn from a ballot.
Usually introduced on backbench days, of which there are 7.
Hybrid bill
A hybrid between private and public; it affects the whole population but specifically a certain group or area.
The legislative process
First reading: the bill is introduced to the house and read for the first time.
Second reading: the bill is debated and voted on.
Committee stage: a bill committee is established made up of cross-party MPs, who look closely at the bill and suggest amendments.
Report stage: the bill returns from the committee with the new suggestions and is debated again.
Third reading: the final vote after all discussions are concluded.
The bill then moves to the opposite House and must be approved by all members.
If the bill passes the Commons, it must go to the Lords. If the Lords makes changes, it must go back to the Commons. This is known colloquially as parliamentary ping-pong.
Before a bill becomes law, it must receive Royal Assent (permission from the Monarch)
The primary aim of parliamentary scrutiny is to keep the work of the government in check, and to ensure that legislation is passed in the best possible way.
Select committees are small groups of MPs that scrutinise the policy, administration and spending of each government department
In addition there are several non-departmental select committees with specific functions.
The Public Accounts Committee: examines government expenditure, seeking to ensure that value for money is being obtained.
The Liaison Committee: consists of the chairs of all the select committees who question the prime minister twice a year across the whole field of government policy.
The Committee on Standards: oversees the work of the parliamentary commissioner on standards, an official who is in charge of regulating MPs’ conduct, including their financial affairs.
Each committee is made up of a minimum of 11 backbenchers. For example, the Defence Select Committee, as of July 2022, includes:
5 Conservatives
4 Labour
1 DUP
1 SNP
Significance
The scrutiny of a specific government department means that it can go into more detail than a debate in the House of Commons. Their hearings tend to be more evidence-based and detailed than parliamentary debates. Membership can last for long periods of time, so members can get a feel for the development of work within the respective department.
Select committees also run inquiries, which mean that they can receive written or oral evidence on a related topic from members of the public. This allows committees to hear what the public thinks about proposals for legislation, and is another way that people can participate in the democratic process.
Select committees can call people to their meetings. The Transport Select Committee, for example, can call those high up in the rail, air and bus industries to answer questions from committee members.
Are select committees effective?
Prime Minister’s Questions
The main purpose of PMQs is to keep the Prime Minister in check with current bills and affairs. Critics, however, have described PMQs as more about style than substance, as the PM rarely answers the question posed, and instead says what the government are doing. Many questions from the government are written to display support for the government, rather than offer scrutiny.
Some say it is a great way to keep Prime Ministers in the loop with their government ministers and departments.
Departmental Question Time
These are when more specific questions about different departments are asked to their respective Secretary of State or ministers. It is at this time that members can raise constituents’ concerns about specific issues.
Similar to PMQs, ministers are expected to give answers about the work their department is doing, but in recent years it has again become more of a demonstration about style over substance.
Is Question Time effective?
The scrutiny that the opposition provides is only really effective when the government has a small majority. For example, during Theresa May’s premiership of 2017-19, the confidence and supply agreement with the DUP gave the government 328 members, a majority of 6. May lost a lot of votes on Brexit, as some Conservative and DUP members rebelled against government policy, meaning that the opposition could effectively persuade them to vote against the government.
During times of a large majority, the opposition typically uses the media to criticise the government, such as appearing on breakfast TV shows to make their policy positions well known.
Opposition parties get 20 days a year to debate their own topics. ‘Short money’ is given to opposition parties to help them fund Westminster offices, due to a lack of civil servants.
They are usually particularly weak after an election, since they have just lost it and may be going through radical changes in leadership.
Other methods of parliamentary scrutiny
Early Day Motions
A 250-word statement submitted by a member for debate, with no fixed date.
Not necessarily delivered on the floor of the HoC. Usually used for campaigning, and rarely become law.
“Parliamentary graffiti” – how useful and effective are EDMs?
Motion of no confidence
Voting on whether members of all parties have confidence in the ability of the government to fulfil its duties.
This is not to be confused with a vote of no confidence by political parties members, as faced by Boris Johnson in June 2022.
In March 1979, a motion of no confidence in PM James Callaghan was tabled. The motion passed by 311 votes to 310, and parliament was dissolved a week later with a general election held the following month.
The role of backbenchers
The concept of parliamentary privilege is crucial to the work of MPs. This refers to MPs being allowed to say whatever they like without being subject to influence. They also cannot be sued for ‘slander’.
Backbenchers seem to be playing a more important role in 21st century politics. The Backbench Business Committee was established in 2010 and allows backbenchers to choose topics for debate for 35 days a year. These can range from topic important to individual members to e-petitions signed by the public.
More backbenchers are defying party whips and voting according to their own opinion. There is no longer a guarantee that the party with the majority will win every single vote.
There are also limits to the power of backbenchers:
Party whips: their role is to entice party members to vote with the party. Backbenchers can also negotiate with the government to include amendments that will sway their vote.
Resources: limited research and admin means they have less resources to rely on.
Majority: if the government has a huge majority, a few backbench rebellions won’t make a difference and could even result in members being removed from partie