Parliament Unit 2

• a select committee is a committee created to oversee the governments departments. e.g. the foreign affairs committee. formed by a HOC vote to appoint members and a chair.
• Liaison committee: committee made up of select committee chairs and regulates the committees, questions the PM and recommends topics to be debated in the house
• Parliamentary questions: convention that PM and ministers are questioned once a week each.
•  Urgent Questions, Allow a MP with the permission of the speaker to ask government ministers questions on urgent matters. Ministers must respond quickly. E.g. march 2024 Minister for the foreign office had to answer questions on Israel and Gaza.
• Parliament act 1911 and 1949: removed the HOL power to veto a bill, it can now only postpone the bill for 1 year.
• Roles of MPs: Represent constituency, scrutinise government, vote on legislation, participate in committees, debate
• Written whip:

  1 line: attendance is requested. 

  2 line: attendance is necessary.

  3 line: MPs must attend and vote the way of the party or risk expulsion from the party.
• Powers of just the commons: approve financial action, veto legislation, final approval from amendments, vote of no confidence, select committees, ministers questions
• Powers of the commons and lords: debate and vote, propose amendments, debate, introduce PMBs
• Powers only held by lords: examine secondary legislation, delay legislation, select committees looking at a broad variety of issues.
• functions of parliament: legitimation, legislation, representation, recruitment and training of minister and debating issues
• First reading: bill is formally presented to parliament by an MP
• Secondary reading: main principals are debated and front benchers respond and vote.
• committee stage: bill considered by HOC public bill committee who propose amendments if necessary.
• report stage: bill and amendments are debated and voted on.
• third reading: the amended bill is further debated and final votes taken
• first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading.

  then sent to the HOL before royal assent.
• types of legislation: Government (public) Bills

  Private member bills
• private member bills introduced through: Ballot bill or ten minute rule
• ·      Ballot bills: Members enter their names into a ballot and random MPs are able to bring a bill.

  ·      Ten minute rule: whatever MPs book the slot after question time have the opportunity to present a bill for 10 minutes.
• PMBs rarely pass as there is little time to debate, MPs return to their constituency (Friday), lack of influence of backbenchers, Hostile MPs can out talk a bill to waste its time.
• PMBs still influencial as PMs use them to raise the profile of certain issues.

  May be successful with cross party support or government support.
• Historic examples of PMBs: 

  ·      1967 abortion act, legalised abortion 

  ·      1965 Murder act, abolished the death penalty.
• Recent examples of PMBs: 

  ·      2019 EU act, required Johnson to seek an extension to the Brexit withdrawal date if parliament did not support the deal or if there was no deal.

  ·      2019 stalking protection act, Dr Sarah Wollaston
• Parliament ineffective at carrying out legislative function.

  ·      Gov has disproportional influence.

  ·      Party whips.

  ·      HOC can force through legislation in the lords.

  ·      Gov majority 

  ·      Brown was only 3 times in the commons.
• Parliament effective at carrying out legislative function.

  ·      Public Bill committees ensure scrutiny (elected)

  ·      Cross party support puts PMBs through.

  ·      Anyone in the house can propose legislation (10 minute rule and ballot bills).

  ·      Lords are increasingly defiant which ensures scrutiny.

  ·      May minority government defeated 28 times in 2 years, 2005 Blair defeated over terrorist detention bill.
• Methods of scrutiny and accountability:

  ·      Select committees are elected by MPs with the chair being a backbencher elected in a separate election.

  ·      Other committees 

  ·      Parliamentary questions 

  ·      Debates 
• Select committees made up of 11-19 MPs. Investigate government departments.
• Other committees: e.g. Liaison committee: heads of all the select committees, questions the PM, regulates select committees to ensure efficient scrutiny, recommends policy to be debated in the HOC.

  Backbench business committee: allows members who are not ministers to decide the topics of debate one day a week.
• Parliamentary questions: convention that PM and ministers are questioned once a week each. Urgent Questions, Allow a MP with the permission of the speaker to ask government ministers questions on urgent matters. Ministers must respond quickly.
• example of an urgent question: march 2024 Minister for the foreign office had to answer questions on Israel and Gaza.
• Debates as a method of scrutiny: held to discuss legislation, potential policy and can be called by opposition, government and BBC. (BBC: 30 days a year, opposition 17 days a year and other oppositions 3 days). All are filmed. Oppositions have chosen tricky subjects 
• Limitations of parliamentary questions:

  ·      More about humiliation than effective questioning.

  ·      PMQs coordinated by downing street: planted questions and pre rehearsal.
• Strengths:

  ·      Head-to-head challenge of opposition and government televised to the nation.

  ·      PMQs are challenging and difficult. 
• Parliament is effective at scrutinising the executive

  ·      PMQs and urgent questions:effective direct way of challenging the government Infront of the nation.

  ·      Public bill committees can now call on the expertise of people inside and outside parliament.

  ·      Lords effectively scrutinises: Legislation must pass the commons and lords. (lords is bi partisan).

  ·      BBC: allows the backbenchers to control debate for 30 days a year.

  ·      Opposition days: 20 a year.

  ·      Short money: opposition funded to scrutinise the government.
• Parliament is ineffective at scrutinising the executive

  ·      PMQs limited: time, planted questions and rehearsal. 

  ·      Question time: often turns into a shouting match, desire to humiliate opponent and make clips.

  ·      Select committees have no enforcement and limited resources.

  ·      HOL: limited by Salisbury convention and parliament act 1911 and 1949.

  ·      MPs can determine debates, but this has little impact on government. Government not required to do anything as a result of them

  ·      With a strong majority the government is highly unaccountable.
• Representation 

   

  Pros: each MP represents a geographical area with 70,000 constituents. MPs raise the grievances of their constituents.
• Cons of representation: FPTP undermines the effectiveness of representation, lords are unelected.
• Social representation in the HOC

   

  ·      White middle class men dominate parliament: 66%, 21% Oxbridge 

  ·      Only 34% women 

  ·      7% working class compared to 34% of UK adults 

  ·      10% BAME compared to 18% population