Constitution

Question 1

How has the house of lords been reformed since 1997?

Answer 1

Abolition of rights of most hereditary peers

Question 2

How has the house of commons been reformed since 1997?

Answer 2

Limited changes to the select committee system

Fixed-term parliament (though not entrenched)

New control for backbenchers over the common agenda

Question 3

What was the human rights act?

Answer 3

Inclusion of the European convention on human rights into British law, effective from 2000

Question 4

Summarise electoral reform since 1997

Answer 4

The introduction of new electoral systems for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, for the Greater London Assembly and for elected mayors

Question 5

What was the freedom of information act?

Effective from when?

Answer 5

Introduction of freedom of information, effective from 2005

Public right to see official documents

Question 6

Briefly describe what it means by city government reform

Answer 6

Introduction of an elected mayor and assembly for Greater London and devolution of powers over health and social care to the Manchester mayor and government

Question 7

Briefly describe what it means by local government reform

Answer 7

Introduction of a cabinet system in a local government and the opportunity for local people to introduce elected mayors by referendum

Question 8

What is devolution in terms of constitutional reform?

Answer 8

Transfer of large amounts of power from Westminster and Whitehall to elected bodies and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Question 9

Talk about the reform of the UK constitution in terms of party registration and the electoral commission

Answer 9

A new electoral commission was setup to regulate elections and referendums, including the funding of parties

This reform also required the first ever registration of political parties

Question 10

What are the reforms of the judiciary since 1997?

Answer 10

The ‘political’ office of Lord Chancellor was abolished. The holder was no longer head of the judiciary or Speaker of the House of Lords. This function was replaced by an office known as justice minister.

The House of Lords Appeal Court was replaced by a separate Supreme Court in 2009

Senior judicial appointments are controlled by an independent committee of senior judges

Question 11

Briefly describe what it means by fixed term parliament

Answer 11

The 2010 Act removed the prime minister’s power to determine the date of general elections. Each parliament should, except under exceptional circumstances, last for 5 years

Question 12

Explain English votes for English laws

What does it mean?

Answer 12

A change in parliamentary procedure that means the MPs from Scottish constituencies will not be allowed to vote on issues that affect only England, or England and Wales.

Question 13

What is the recall of MPs in terms of constitutional reform

Answer 13

If an MP is imprisoned or suspended from the House of Commons for misbehaviour, a petition signed by 10% of the voters in a constituency can trigger a by-election

Question 14

Why will the UK and the EU have constitutional impacts?

Answer 14

In 2016 a referendum determined that the UK will leave the EU in the years that follow. This will have wide-ranging constitutional impacts.

Question 15

What are the four main motivations for constitutional reform since 1997?

Answer 15

Democratisation
Decentralisation
Stronger protection of rights
Modernisation

Question 16

Briefly describe what it means by democratisation

Answer 16

A lot of the British political system has been seen as undemocratic

• The unelected House of Lords and the unrepresentative electoral system (neither of these have been yet made ‘democratic’)
• The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use proportional electoral systems, but the main measure - reforming the syetm for general elections - failed following the referendum in 2011.
• A small reform of the House of Lords, namely the removal of most of its hereditary peers, has been made, but the main measure, to elected the second chamber, remains in doubt.
• Under the coalition of 2010-15 some democratisation of the House of Commons took place, but this aspect of reform remains incomplete

Question 17

Briefly describe what it means by decentralisation

Answer 17

Here a great deal of progress has been made.
- Devolution dispersed power away from central government considerably in 1998.
Since then all the administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have received additional powers
- The introduction of elected mayors in London and other cities has helped to move power to local centres
- The introduction of elected police commissioners after 2012 will also help to decentralise control over the police
- in 2016 devolved powers over health and social care were also granted to Manchester.

Question 18

Briefly describe what it means by ‘stronger protection of rights’

Answer 18

During the 1980s there had been fears that the rights of citizens in the UK had been consistently eroded.

• In fact, the process could be traced back to earlier periods, but the Labour party concentrated on what had occurred under the conservatives
• In addition, Labour wished to bring the UK more in line with European practice in constitutional matters
• The party therefore proposed the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
• A freedom of information act was seen as an essential in a drive to create more open and accountable government.

These two developments are now having major impact on the safeguarding of rights in the UK

Question 19

Briefly describe what it means by modernisation

Answer 19

Governments since 1997 have all sort to bring the British Constitution into line with other modern arrangements with exist in western democracies.
Certainly the stronger protection of rights and the right to obtain official information for citizens bring the UK in line with most other democracies
- The idea of a fixed term parliaments is also in lie with other democracies.
- Referendum use has grown in the UK, bringing the UK into line with a common European practice.
- However the failure to reform the second chamber or to codify the constitution means that the British system remains ‘traditional’ rather than ‘modern’