House of Lords Flashcards
(27 cards)
pressure group Electoral Reform Society quote
“A government defeat in the Lords can be all smoke, and no fire”
The Safety of Rwanda Bill
Allowed deportations to Rwanda for certain migrants who arrive in the UK via illegal routes, passed through parliament in 22 april
-In the run-up to the election, The Guardian reported ‘Government loses all seven Lords votes on Rwanda bill’,
Safety of Rwanda Bill revising
When the bill had been passed to the Lords from the Commons, the Bill was heavily amended in ways the government didn’t support, however, after a ‘parliamentary ping pong,’ where the bill was sent between the chambers, it eventually backed down
Government defeat
“the Government fails to persuade a majority of MPs or members of the House of Lords to support them in a division (vote)”, more common in the Lords than the Commons, due to the lack of a party majority
Salisbury Convention 1945
Stipulated that Lords cannot block bills which are in the governing party’s manifesto
Parliament Act 1949
House of Lords will not block something that was not blocked in the previous session
Times when the House of Lords has used its delaying power
-Parliament Act 1949
-War Powers Act 1991
-European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999
-Sexual Offences Amendment Act 2000
-Hunting Act 2004
In each of these cases, the Lords kept blocking the bill until the parliamentary session had run out, with the bill being passed in the next session.
House of Lords backing down
Often times, during a ‘parliamentary ping pong’, the Lords will submit due to their lack of a democratic mandate.
Further Reforms to the Lords
2006, Labour government considered legislation to formally prevent the Lords from delaying legislation that arises as the result of a manifesto commitment (turning the Salisbury Convention into law)
-Reducing their ability to delay other legislation to 60 days
Neither happened
Functions of the House of Lords
-Legislating
-Scrutinizing legislation (unique to Lords)
-Scrutinizing secondary legislation (unique to Lords)
-Scrutiny of government
-The representation of groups
-Social representation
Important in legislating
-Lords can exercise its powers to ask the government to think again or to ask the Commons to amend the proposals to improve them
-The Lords has the power to delay legislation for up to one year, when it does this, it is asking the government to reconsider
Limited in legislating
Lords do not legitimize legislation
Lords does not grant consent like the Commons
The Lords can be bypassed by the government by using the Parlaiment Act in the next year
Secondary legislation meaning
any legislation that has been decided by ministers of government, rather than by parliament as primary legislation has. Ministers have this right due to ‘statutory instruments’, which delegate powers to ministers of departments
Scrutinizing Secondary Legislation
-The increased use of statutory instruments is a matter of concern, as it not voted on nor debated
-The Lords have more time and expertise to consider such legislation
House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
Considers all secondary legislation and where concern is expressed, the matter is brought to the attention of the whole House and referred to the Commons.
-However, just 0.01% of statutory instruments have been rejected by both Houses of Parliament
2015 Tax credit cut
-Conservative government attempted to pass a statutory instrument granting the Chancellor of the Exchecquer the power to reduce tax credits for poorer people
-This was returned by the Lords before it was passed, and the government ran out of time to pass it before the election was called
Scrutiny of Government, an important role
Government ministers (although mostly junior) do sit in the Lords, and questions can be asked of them. 3 cabinet ministers sit in the Lords
-David Cameron sat in the Lords as Foreign Secretary
-When scrutinizing government legislation, the Lords can use their expertise
-Committee stage is a key role of the Lords, legislation is often improved and clauses are added which protect vulnerable minorities
Scrutiny of government, limited role
Nearly all sernior ministers sit in the House of Commons
-The Lords alck the means and methods for scrutnizing government (e.g. lack of select comittees)
Examples of Extensive Expertise
-Lord Rees, Astrophysicist, President of the Royal Society, Astronomer Royal
-Lord Stevens, Former Chief Executive of NHS England, Chair of Cancer Research UK
-Lord Monks, Former General Secretary of the TUC
Lord Bird of Notting Hill
-Founded the Big-Issue magazine, who sold magazines to homeless people to be resold for money
-Was homeless himself, provides insight into poverty
Electoral Reform Society arguments against expertise
-Contrary to the notion that peers provide insight outside of politics, 34% used to work in politics
-Manual and skilled trades, policing and transport make up less than 1% each
-Twice as many peers were staff of the royal family than worked in manual or skilled labour
Representation of Groups
-Since 2000, no single party has had a majority
-No need to concern themselves with the needs of a constituency
-No need to get re-elected
-Wider range of political opinion
-Large number of crossbenchers
ERS arguments against representation
-Since 1999, a quarter of appointments have been former MPs
-Only 2 peers are under 39
-Only 22% of appointments since 1997 have been women
-44% live in London and the South East
-62% of peers were privately educate, compared with 6.5% of people in the UK
ERS cost.
-Peers don’t get a salary, but are able to 300 pounds a day just for turning up
-From 2010-2015, 360k was claimed by peers for years they didn’t vote in
-From 2013-2014, the Lords cost 93 million
