Slides from the Parliament Explained Seminar - Introduction to Parliament on Thursday 29 January 2015.

2. Introduction to
Parliament
David Lawrie, Mark Cullen
& Ed Faulkner
29 January 2015

3. Parliament is made up of:
a) House of Commons & House of Lords
b) House of Commons and Government
c) Government and Monarch
d) House of Commons, House of Lords
and Monarch

4. What is Parliament?
House of Commons House of Lords
The Monarch
The Queen

5. Which TWO answers describe the
work of Parliament?
a) running Government departments
b) checking up on the work of
Government
c) being the highest court of appeal in
the UK
d) making new laws

6. What is the role of the
Queen?
• politically neutral
• signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal
Assent)
• opens Parliament each session

7. The core tasks of
Parliament
Makes and passes laws
(Legislation)
Holds Government to
account
Enables the Government
to set taxes

8. The House of Lords

9. How can you become member of the
House of Lords?
a) Members of the public nominate them
b) An independent Commission
recommends them
c) The Prime Minister chooses them
d) Their titles are passed down to them
through their family
e) All of the above

10. Membership
• 780 Members (approx.)
• 665 Life Peers
• 92 Hereditary Peers
• 26 Bishops and Archbishops
• 240 Seats in Chamber (Capacity)

11. Examples

12. The House of Commons

13. The Government
• The party with (usually) the majority of
seats in the House of Commons forms the
Government
• The Government:
– runs public departments (e.g. Home Office)
– proposes new laws to Parliament
– is accountable to Parliament

14. Parliament
(Westminster)
• Commons, Lords and
Monarch
• Holds Government to
account
• Passes laws
Government
(Whitehall)
• Some MPs and some
Lords, chosen by the
Prime Minister
• Runs Government
departments and
public services

15. BILLS & LEGISLATION

16. Types of legislation
• Public Bills are proposed changes to
general law
o Government Bills
o Private Members Bills
• Private Bills are local /one-off changes to
laws
• Hybrid Bills are a mixture of the above
• Delegated/Secondary Legislation

17. The House of Lords pass more
changes (amendments) to
legislation than the House of
Commons.
a) True
b) False
c) Both Houses pass approximately the
same number of amendments

18. Passage of a bill

19. Scrutiny of legislation
• Green Papers and White Papers
• Pre-legislative committees, Draft bills
• Passage of a bill
– Public Bill committees
– MPs and members of the House of Lords
• Act of Parliament
• Post-legislative scrutiny

23. http://services.parliament.uk/bills/

26. SELECT COMMITTEES

27. Commons Lords
One for each Government department
looking specifically at the department’s
spending, policies and administration
A committee will have a minimum of 11
members, who decide upon the line of
inquiry and then gather written and oral
evidence.
Findings are reported to the Commons,
printed, and published on the
Parliament website. The government
then usually has 60 days to reply to the
committee's recommendations.
Other Commons Committees are
involved in a range of on-going
investigations, like administration of the
House itself or allegations about the
conduct of individual MPs.
These committees do not shadow the
work of government departments. Their
investigations look into specialist
subjects, taking advantage of the Lords'
expertise and the greater amount of
time available to them to examine
issues.
There are currently five major Lords
Select Committees:
- the European Union Committee
- the Science and Technology
Committee
- the Communications Committee
- the Constitution Committee
- the Economic Affairs Committee

28. List of Commons
Committees
• Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
• Communities and Local Government Committee
• Culture, Media and Sport Committee
• Defence Committee
• Energy and Climate Change Committee
• Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
• Environmental Audit Committee
• Foreign Affairs Committee
• Health Committee
• Home Affairs Committee
• International Development Committee
• Justice Committee

29. List of Commons
Committees
• Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
• Political and Constitutional Reform Committee
• Procedure Committee
• Public Accounts, Committee of
• Public Administration, Select Committee on
• Science and Technology Committee
• Scottish Affairs Committee
• Transport Committee
• Treasury Committee
• Welsh Affairs Committee
• Work and Pensions Committee

30. Select Committees
• Scrutinise specific areas of work and
Government departments
• Carry out public inquiries
• Groups and individuals can submit
evidence
• Relevant Government Department is
required to respond to report

35. QUESTIONS &
DEBATES

36. Questions and Debates
Parliamentary Questions
• Written or spoken questions asked by MPs
and Lords, directed at the Government.
Written Ministerial Statements
• Can be in response to oral questions not
answered or ways of informing the House
without coming to the chamber
Debates
• Debates happen every day that the House
of Commons or the House of Lords are
sitting.

37. Other ways MPs can raise
issues?
Petitions
• Usually a call on Government for action
regarding an issue (local or national)
Early Day Motions
• A published statement allowing MPs to
show their opinion on a specific subject

38. Who is the only person who is allowed
an alcoholic drink on the Floor of the
House of Commons?
a) Speaker
b) Prime Minister
c) Chancellor of the Exchequer
d) Chief Whip

39. • Only includes provisions
on imposition and
alteration of taxes to
raise money for central
Govt
• Controversial, important
or novel provisions dealt
with by Committee of
whole House
The Finance Bill

40. • Lords debates, but
does not amend
Finance Bills by
convention
• Lords do not debate
Finance Bills clause
by clause by
convention
The Finance Bill – scrutiny?

41. • Government introduced fixed-term
Parliaments Act
• Provision for Collection of Taxes Act
amended by 2011 Finance Act to
allow for carry-over of Budgets
• This will not apply for 2015 as there
is dissolution of Parliament.
• This year the Budget is on 18 March
2015.
The Finance Bill – carried over

42. DISSOLUTION

43. Dissolution
• Fixed Term Parliament Act 2011
• 5 Year intervals between each
General Election
• Parliament dissolved 25 working
days prior to a General Election
• This year Parliament will be dissolved
on Monday 30th March 2015

44. Rules and conventions
ahead of a general
election
• “Purdah” and election guidance for
civil servants
– Pre-election period starts on 30th
March 2015 (when Parliament is
dissolved)
• Pre-election contacts between the
Civil Service and Opposition
– Prime Minister gave permission for
these to start on 1 October 2014

45. Questions?

46. QUICK SUMMARY
• How Parliament Works

48. Where can I get
information?
• www.parliament.uk and @UKParliament
• Commons Information Office
020 7219 4272 hcinfo@parliament.uk
• Lords Information Office
020 7219 3107 hlinfo@parliament.uk
• Parliament’s Outreach Service
020 7219 1650
parliamentaryoutreach@parliament.uk

49. Next Seminar: Select Committees – Thursday 26 February 2015