Parliament – House of lords and house of
commons
Functions of HOC and HOL – Legislating, scrutiny,
representation
Legislating – House of common
The function of making, amending, and passing laws
Sailsbury convention – the house of lord does not delay or block
legislation that was included in a government manifesto
The commons must approve taxation and expenditure but will
always pass it
Backbench MPs can develop their own legislation in the form of a
private members bill
Private members bills can be introduced via ballot, ten-minute bills,
or presentation
Ballot – names of backbench MPs are randomly drawn and allocated
specific time to introduce bill.
Ten minute – making a ten-minute speech introducing the issue for
consideration
Presentation – MP notifies the house of intention to introduce new
bill and present the title in the house
During 2017 – 2019 15 private members bill achieved royal assent
and became statute law
Legislating – house of lords
Many bill must be passed by the lords before becoming law
Lords can delay legislation for up to a year
Commons can vote to bypass the lords and pass legislation
The war powers act 1991 allowing the UK government to
prosecute war criminal even if the offences were committed outside
the UK
The hunting act 2004 banning fox hunting with packs of hounds
In each case the HOL performed its function of asking the HOC to
reconsider
Scrutinising secondary legislation
Secondary legislation – any law making or change to the law
made by any member of government that does not need to pass
through normal parliamentary procedures
Delegated legislation – Detail aspect of law that ministers and
other public bodies can make as they have previously been granted
the power to do so according to a parliamentary statue
Statutory instruments - Delegated legislation often takes the
form of a statutory instrument
They are increasingly used to make law.
, Most are not debated in Parliament, resulting in little scrutiny or
quality control.
Much of mays proposed Brexit legislation included statutory
instrument (600) which allows the government to make decision
without having to consult parliament or be scrutinised.
2019 government ttempted to push through 500 statutory
instruments without proper scrutiny, even threatening to remove
the Lords’ power to oppose them. If successful, this would have
granted the executive broad powers to act on Brexit consequences
with minimal oversight.
Scrutinising secondary legislation HOL
HOL has time and expertise to review secondary legislation.
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee – reviews all such laws
and flags those that may cause concern.
Serious concerns are brought to the full House and possibly referred
to the Commons.
Such referrals are rare but important for checking government
power.
Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments – Lords contribute to
checking for errors in wording and meaning of secondary laws.
Importance of Lords – This scrutiny role can make the Lords more
influential than the Commons in some legislative processes.
Key Example – October 2015 – The Lords blocked secondary
legislation that would have cut tax credits for low-income families,
forcing the government to revise the proposal.
Scrutiny of government – the commons
Forcing the government to justify its polices and decisions, if a
minster knows they must face the commons, they will be more
carful
Urgent questions, PMQs, Committees
Commons can refuse to pass a piece of legislation – 2016 voted
against a new law extending Sunday trading hours.
The government being defeated weakness them and make them
appear ineffective.
May suffered 33 defeats
Commons can removed a government if they feel they are
incompetent – last successful Vote of no confidence was in 1979
removing a labour government
Scrutiny of government – the lords
Limitations in Scrutiny of Government – Most senior (especially
Cabinet) ministers sit in the Commons, limiting the Lords' ability to
hold them accountable. Lords rely on junior ministers to represent
commons
Functions of HOC and HOL – Legislating, scrutiny,
representation
Legislating – House of common
The function of making, amending, and passing laws
Sailsbury convention – the house of lord does not delay or block
legislation that was included in a government manifesto
The commons must approve taxation and expenditure but will
always pass it
Backbench MPs can develop their own legislation in the form of a
private members bill
Private members bills can be introduced via ballot, ten-minute bills,
or presentation
Ballot – names of backbench MPs are randomly drawn and allocated
specific time to introduce bill.
Ten minute – making a ten-minute speech introducing the issue for
consideration
Presentation – MP notifies the house of intention to introduce new
bill and present the title in the house
During 2017 – 2019 15 private members bill achieved royal assent
and became statute law
Legislating – house of lords
Many bill must be passed by the lords before becoming law
Lords can delay legislation for up to a year
Commons can vote to bypass the lords and pass legislation
The war powers act 1991 allowing the UK government to
prosecute war criminal even if the offences were committed outside
the UK
The hunting act 2004 banning fox hunting with packs of hounds
In each case the HOL performed its function of asking the HOC to
reconsider
Scrutinising secondary legislation
Secondary legislation – any law making or change to the law
made by any member of government that does not need to pass
through normal parliamentary procedures
Delegated legislation – Detail aspect of law that ministers and
other public bodies can make as they have previously been granted
the power to do so according to a parliamentary statue
Statutory instruments - Delegated legislation often takes the
form of a statutory instrument
They are increasingly used to make law.
, Most are not debated in Parliament, resulting in little scrutiny or
quality control.
Much of mays proposed Brexit legislation included statutory
instrument (600) which allows the government to make decision
without having to consult parliament or be scrutinised.
2019 government ttempted to push through 500 statutory
instruments without proper scrutiny, even threatening to remove
the Lords’ power to oppose them. If successful, this would have
granted the executive broad powers to act on Brexit consequences
with minimal oversight.
Scrutinising secondary legislation HOL
HOL has time and expertise to review secondary legislation.
Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee – reviews all such laws
and flags those that may cause concern.
Serious concerns are brought to the full House and possibly referred
to the Commons.
Such referrals are rare but important for checking government
power.
Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments – Lords contribute to
checking for errors in wording and meaning of secondary laws.
Importance of Lords – This scrutiny role can make the Lords more
influential than the Commons in some legislative processes.
Key Example – October 2015 – The Lords blocked secondary
legislation that would have cut tax credits for low-income families,
forcing the government to revise the proposal.
Scrutiny of government – the commons
Forcing the government to justify its polices and decisions, if a
minster knows they must face the commons, they will be more
carful
Urgent questions, PMQs, Committees
Commons can refuse to pass a piece of legislation – 2016 voted
against a new law extending Sunday trading hours.
The government being defeated weakness them and make them
appear ineffective.
May suffered 33 defeats
Commons can removed a government if they feel they are
incompetent – last successful Vote of no confidence was in 1979
removing a labour government
Scrutiny of government – the lords
Limitations in Scrutiny of Government – Most senior (especially
Cabinet) ministers sit in the Commons, limiting the Lords' ability to
hold them accountable. Lords rely on junior ministers to represent
