Manchester Conference 1.11.11 - Campaigning Toolkit
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Manchester Conference 1.11.11 - Campaigning Toolkit
- 1. Campaigning Toolkit Hannah Roberts
Editor's Notes
- These are the seven different methods available for holding the Government to account, pressing for change, scrutinising policy or influencing legislation.
- Parliamentary Questions are one of the tools which both MPs and Members of the House of Lords use to hold the Government to account. It is also one of the tools members of the public can use to campaign for change or to raise awareness of a certain issue. Questions can be used to clarify Government policies, or obtain official statistics and information. This could relate to the number of people receiving assistance under a scheme, or the number of people affected by an issue or condition. Questions can also be used to raise awareness about a particular issue and directly challenge Government policy. In all cases, the basis for asking a question must be factual, and directly related to the department in question. They could refer to the decisions a minister has taken, the policies of a department, or the way in which those policies are implemented. There are two types of questions: Written questions are quite literally ‘written’ and will receive a written reply from the relevant Government department. Generally written questions are best used when requesting quite detailed information and statistics. Oral questions are taken in the chamber and their will be a minister from the relevant Government department to answer the question. With oral questions, there are also what is known as a supplementary question – this is an opportunity, after the minister has answered the question, for the MP or member of the House of Lords, to ask another question. The value of this is that the Minister won’t know what the second question is (as the ministers will have received notice of all questions and have briefing notes prepared by their researchers). Now, has anybody seen Prime Ministers question time? You may have heard a question being asked ‘what are the Prime Ministers plans for the day’ – this is a tactic used to ask the Prime Minister a question without him having a chance to prepare an answer as it allows for a supplementary question to be asked.
- It will bring a particular issue to the attention of the Government Minister When you have their response you will have, on record, a confirmation of the Government position and possibly a commitment to further action which you can then hold them to. In order to get a question asked you will need to contact either an MP or a member of the House of Lords. If it is a local constituency issue then you will need to contact your local MP If it is a regional or national issue then you might want to consider contacting either an MP or Member of the House of Lords who has shown an interest in your particular issue or campaign. When you request for a question to be raised it is really important that you explain what it is you hope to achieve by asking the question, how you will use the question and the answer, for example, whether it will be part of a press release or if it will be used in your annual report. It is also important that your MP or Member of the House of Lords know about what other activities your campaign consisted of, and most importantly background information about the campaign For example – why is it important that the community centre stays open, how many people do they support each year, what benefit do they bring to the community etc. This information is vital because a) the MP or member of the House of Lords and their office will often phrase the question and b) when there is the supplementary question you want the MP to be armed with as much information as possible so they are in the best position to ask a supplementary question which will really help you achieve the aims of your campaign. Don’t forget to include credible research and case studies which will support your message. Once you have an answer or debate you have a formal Government response to your issue which you can use for future activities. The Government can not refuse to answer a question, they may not give you the answer that you want and you might not feel they have actually answered your question effectively but they must still provide an answer.
- Debates are very similar to questions in what they can achieve, and how you can use them. The key difference being that they are a debate as opposed to a question. There are two specific types of debate: Adjournment debates which take place in the House of Commons There is a half-hour adjournment debate at the end of the day’s sitting in the Commons chamber, and at sittings in Westminster Hall on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there are two one-and-a-half hour debates and three half-hour debates. The one-and-a-half hour debates are intended to be more general involving a number of MPs. Members are selected for Adjournment Debates by ballot; except on Thursday when they are chosen by the Speaker Ensuring the topic for debate relates to a Government department’s remit is essential, as once an adjournment debate is secured a minister from the relevant department must be present to respond on behalf of the Government. Questions for Short debate which take place in the House of Lords. They can last for up to 90 minutes. As with adjournment debates in the House of Commons, a minister must be present to respond on behalf of the Government. Raising a debate: If you want a debate raised it is really important to be clear why you want a debate to take place and what you hope to achieve with it – for example a press release or to form part of a report you are working on. It is vital that you provide whoever is debating on your behalf with all the necessary information, reports, statistics, case studies etc so that they are as prepared as possible to use the debate to help you achieve your aims. Debates can be about anything from a local constituency issue to a matter of international significance. As with questions, you can use a debate to raise attention of an issue with the relevant Government department and get a response. If you want to get a debate raised then, if it is a local issue then contact your MP in the first instance. If it is a regional or national issue think also about contacting an MP or member of the House of Lords who already have an interest in that particular issue. Once the debate has been secured then it would be a good idea to contact all other MPs or lords who also have a particular interest in that issue and let them know that the debate is taking place. Again, ensure they know what it is about, why it is important, what you are hoping to achieve, provide them with some background information so if they choose to attend and contribute to the debate they have all the necessary information.
- Select Committees are committees of backbench MPs and / or Members of the House of Lords set up to scrutinise the work of Government departments, and issues related to those departments. The work of select committees is done through public enquiries and in most cases there is an opportunity for the public to submit evidence to the inquiries. An inquiry will begin with the committee in question announcing the subject of an enquiry, and making a call to any groups or organisations with an interest in the inquiry subject to submit written evidence. In making the call for evidence, the committee will ask a number of questions that it wants groups to answer in their evidence. The call for evidence will also come with a deadline. After the deadline for written evidence, the committee will then call a selected number of people to give oral evidence in Parliament. We should emphasise the majority of people that submit written evidence do not get called to an oral evidence session due to the sheer number of people submitting evidence. The written and oral evidence will then be collated, which summarises the evidence received, and makes a number of recommendations. The report is then sent to the relevant Government department who will make a formal response. They are a great way for groups and organisations to give their views and experiences directly to Parliament. They are highly influential. You may occasionally hear news reports refer to ‘an influential group of MPs’. These are usually Select Committees. They can often have a direct influence on Government policies.
- Early Day Motions are way that MPs can draw attention to issues. If you hear in the media that a group of MPs have signed a ‘motion calling for the Government’ then it is an Early Day Motion. An Early Day Motion is very similar to a petition – except it is a petition that can only be signed by MPs. Is a statement that can be used to draw attention to a range of issues, to world, domestic or constituency matters, a call for action, to commemorate, congratulate and condemn. At the start of a day’s business, members can write a statement, in the form of a debate motion into a book. Any member that agrees with the sentiment of a motion can sign their name against it in support. Most EDMs do not lead to debate or a change in the law, but they are vital in highlighting issues of importance, bringing attention to work and events, and identifying MPs that have an interest in specific issues. An example is a charity who used an EDM to issue a statement calling for an increase in Government funding for hospital places. They asked all MPs to sign this EDM and by looking at those who did were able to identify MPs who were supportive of their campaign. They then developed relationships with them, such as sending them reports and updates about their work and inviting them to events. Establishing these relationships and building them is absolutely crucial prior to calling for particular action – you want to be already known to these MPs, you want to have established a credible relationships so that when legislation is going through it is a simple phone call ‘ Hi it is so and so, we are aware of this legislation and am concerned etc.’ All EDMs and the details of supporting signatories are made public. You can search all previous EDMs which will help you identify MPs who are interested in your particular issue. If your MP is a member of the Government they will not be able to take sign EDMs or raise debates or questions. This is because the Government has the concept of collective responsibility – it is not possible to scrutinise something you are part of. They can still get a response from the relevant Government department by writing to that department If the issue isn’t a constituency issue then you could see whether there is a Lord or another MP who would be willing to raise the issue.
- Allows faster processing of Bills and is unique to the House of Commons. A Public Bill Committee is appointed for each public Bill that goes through Parliament. Depending on its complexity, the consideration of a Bill can take a few minutes to a few months. Each Public Bill Committee is named after the Bill it considers. Each committee is assigned a chairman and debate Bills as they would do in the Commons chamber, with broadly the same rules of debate applying. Public Bill Committees have the power to take written and oral evidence from officials and experts outside of Parliament. This is intended to give Committee members more information on which to make their decisions. The minimum number of Members in a committee is 16 and the maximum is about 50. The proportion of Members in a Public Bill Committee mirrors the political parties' strengths in the Commons, so there is always a Government majority. Public Bill Committees examine each Bill clause by clause. Once a committee has finished looking at a Bill, it reports its conclusions and any amendments made to the Commons, where Members debate the Bill further. The Bill is printed again with the amendments made by the Public Bill Committee; this is publicly available in printed and online formats. Note: The Lords have both a Committee Stage (whole House or grand committee) and a Report Stage (whole House). Although the Lords don’t meet in Public Bill Committees, they have a 'report stage' to allow further consideration of Bills. The Lords meet as a whole House in this function - in the debating chamber or as a Grand Committee away from the chamber. Proceedings in a Grand Committees are the same as Committees of the whole House with an important exception: motions must be passed unanimously, so a dissenting voice from one Member could block an amendment to a Bill.
- A petition is a process where individuals or groups can appeal to Parliament through their MP. A petition must consist of at least one name and address and be set out in the correct format. The MP will present the petition to the House of Commons. The petition will be published and sent to the relevant Government department. You can submit a petition to Parliament through your MP.
- All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are registered and approved All-Party Groups (APPs) - informal groups of predominantly backbench MPs and Members of the House of Lords from all parties that meet to discuss and research areas of common interest. There are generally two types – subject groups (relating to a particular topic eg forestry) and country groups (relating to a particular country or region). The Register of All-Party Groups shows which groups are recognised by the House of Commons, who their officers are, and what support groups receive from outside Parliament. A group may also chose to be on the Approved List. The Approved List exists as a result of a Resolution made by the House of Commons in October 1984 and its main purpose is to control the extent to which groups use the House’s facilities and status. By being on the Approved List the group gains certain entitlements (eg use of the All-Party Notices to advertise meetings; use of the term ‘All-Party’, ‘Associate’ and ‘Parliamentary’ in the group’s title; and priority over unlisted groups when booking meeting rooms in the Palace of Westminster). A group’s entry on the Approved List, as opposed to its entry in the Register, shows simply the group’s title and whether it is either an ‘All-Party Parliamentary Group’ or an ‘Associate Parliamentary Group’. The difference between the two terms is that in an All-Party Parliamentary Group only Members of the House of Commons or Lords have voting rights whereas an Associate Parliamentary Group additionally allows voting rights to persons who are neither. These groups are not a formal part of the Westminster apparatus – unlike select committees they do not receive secretarial support or funding from Parliament, nor do they hold public enquiries. They are formally recognised by Parliament. They also hold regular meetings where groups are invited to attend and make presentations for the group. As there is no formal framework to the groups there is a greater level of freedom for these groups to discuss issues of interest to members. They help MPs and Peers to develop their knowledge of subjects of personal interest. They often rely on the support of external organisations for information, statistics, briefings. They are a fantastic opportunity for organisations to increase awareness of their work amongst MPs and Peers This is crucial to build relationships with MPs and Peers so that when something does happen you will already have all the relationships in place. You can view all APGs on the website and can send them information about your organisation and its work.