Introduction to Parliament

Nerys DaviesJuly 2014

What is Parliament?House of Commons House of Lords

The Monarch

The Queen

What is the role of the Queen?

• politically neutral • signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal

Assent)• opens Parliament each session

The House of Commons

The House of Lords

The core tasks of Parliament

Makes and passes laws(Legislation)

Holds Government to account

Enables the Government to set taxes

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

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

Legislation

Types of legislation

• Public Bills are proposed changes to general lawoGovernment Billso Private Members Bills

• Private Bills are local /one-off changes to laws

• Hybrid Bills are a mixture of the above• Delegated/Secondary Legislation

Passage of a bill

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

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

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

Select Committees webpages

Questions and debatesParliamentary Questions• written or spoken questions asked by MPs

and Lords, directed at the GovernmentWritten 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.

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

• 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

• 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?

• Government introduced fixed-term Parliaments

• End of session just a few weeks after Budget

• Provision for Collection of Taxes Act amended by 2011 Finance Act to allow for carry-over of Budgets

• Will not apply for dissolution of Parliament prior to elections

The Finance Bill – carried over

Autumn Statement

http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6485

Run up to the General Election

Lots of Housekeeping• Preparing for new MPs• Organising rooms with the Whips• Organising new technology for

Members

Questions?

Where can I get information?

• www.parliament.uk and @UKParliament

• Commons Information Office020 7219 4272 hcinfo@parliament.uk

• Lords Information Office020 7219 3107 hlinfo@parliament.uk

• Parliament’s Outreach Service020 7219 1650parliamentaryoutreach@parliament.uk