Parliament Flashcards
(27 cards)
Difference between public and private bills
Public- vast majority of bills, affect entire population
Private- affect only organisations or individuals, often comes as a result of lobbying
Example of private bill
University of Manchester Act 2004 facilitated merger of two existing Manchester-based Unis
Types of public bills
Government and Private Members’
Process of Private Members’ bills
MPs enter ballot at start of parliamentary session
20MPs chosen to propose a bill at one of 13 Fridays in session
10-min rule bills- bacbenchers make case for new bill in 10 min speech
Presentation- MPs introduce one but don’t speak to support it
Example of PMB
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Nov 2024, passed 2nd reading in Commons
Introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeaters after coming top of ballot
Key roles of Lords in legislative process
Offering technical amendments or taking a stand against bills when justified
Often accept rejections to their amendments due to no democratic legitimacy
Example of Lords backing down
EU Withdrawal Agreement 2020- Lords sent back to Commons with 5 amendments eg guaranteeing ERASMUS scheme
Commons rejected all of these amendments and Lords backed down
What is parliamentary ping pong
If either house makes amendments, other house must consider them and agree to them
They can make alternative proposals and go back to other house to be voted on
Example of ping pong
2021 Trade Act- went back and forth 6 times, Lords eventually backed down on an amendment proposal that prevented UK Gov from agreeing to trade deals with countries that had committed genocide
What is the Salisbury Convention
Lords shouldn’t block any bill that fulfils a pledge in the governmnet’s election manifesto
Can offer technical amendments but no ‘wrecking’ amendments that change the manifesto intention
Lords must also give Commons reasonable time to consider amendments and pass a bill
Disagreement on whether this convention still applies in coalition and minoroty govs
What did the Parliament Acts enforce
1911- Lords cannot delay financial bills, delaying power of non-financial bills= 2 years
1949- delaying power for non-financial bills halved to 1 year
What is secondary legislation
Further regulations made by ministers following primary legislation- using ‘statutory instruments’
Examples of secondary legislation
2016- abolition of maintenance grants
2024- increased tuition fees for 2025-6 academic year
How are Statutory Instruments scrutinised
Select Committee on Statutory Instruments considers whether they should be drawn to special attention of the House
How had Commons’ legislative scrutiny decreased
MPs spend less time debating legislation- only 24% of their time in spent chamber from 2006-2021
Only 10% of government bills receive pre-legislative scrutiny
Recently, bills rushed through Parliament and little scrutiny given eg Brexit process and COVID-19 set precedents for legislating quickly
Exclusive powers of the Commons
Bringing down a government- holding vote of no confidence
Forming Confidence and Supply Agreement- eg 2017 Conservative minority agreement and DUP in retun for £1Bn pledged to N.Ireland
Forcing through legislation- invoke Parliament Act 1949 after 1 year in Lords, used 3x by Blair but not since, only 7x in total
Passing financial/manifesto legislation
Exclusive powers of Lords
Forcing election after 5 years
Scrutinising and Revising Legislation
Delaying Non-Financial legislation
Example of Lords taking stand on a bill
2001, 10 defeats in Lords led government to remove incitement of religious hatred as an offence from it’s anti-terrorism legislation
Lords argues it would’ve threatened rights
How is Lords more representative
Less dominated by Hereditary Peers following New Labour reforms
Efforts made to appoint more women and ethnic minorities
No in-built Conservative majority- crossbenchers ensure no party has a majority
How is Lords more professional
Many life peers are ex-polticians eg Cameron
Many are specialists from different fields eg Lord Sugar appointed for experience in business
How are Lords independent of executive and effective at scrutiny
No elected so don’t need party/ party funding to remain in post
Government defeated more in Lords than Commons eg Blair defeated just 4 times in Commons but 353 in Lords, Johnson 4 times in Commons but 243 in Lords
More time and expertise to devote to scrutinising policy and legislation line by line
Example of increased scrutiny in Lords
2020 Agriculture Act received 32 hours scrutiny in Commons but 96 hours in Lords
Arguments that Commons have more power over legislation
Invoke parliament act 1949 after 1 year and force bill through
Lords limited in legislation it can vote down- Sals Convention and Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949
Lords often backs down to amendments, recognising its lack of democratic legitimacy
