1 / 31

March 2013

March 2013. Parliament and your campaign. Overview. This session will cover: A brief recap of Parliament’s role MPs and Members of the House of Lords What MPs and Lords can do in Parliament Draft Bills, Private Members’ Bills and Government Bills. Parliamentary Outreach.

joel-wood
Télécharger la présentation

March 2013

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. March 2013 Parliament and your campaign

  2. Overview • This session will cover: • A brief recap of Parliament’s role • MPs and Members of the House of Lords • What MPs and Lords can do in Parliament • Draft Bills, Private Members’ Bills and Government Bills

  3. Parliamentary Outreach • A service from the Houses of Parliament • Politically neutral • Aim is to increase knowledge and engagement with work and processes of Parliament • Not an alternative to MPs

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

  5. State of the Parties 2013

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

  7. Where to start: your MP • Your MP’s contact details will be available via the Parliament website: www.parliament.uk • You can also find them by calling the House of Commons Information Office on 020 7219 4272 • Or at your town hall or local library • Many MPs will have a contact address and number in the constituency Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury

  8. The House of Lords • The second Chamber, also known as the revising House • No party, or combination of parties has an overall majority in the House of Lords • There are 179 Cross-Benchers in the Lords, who are independent of party • There are 811 members of whom 762 are eligible: • 645 are Life Peers • 92 are Hereditary Peers • 25 are C of E Bishops

  9. The House of Lords • Members of the House of Lords do not have constituencies, so in theory, you can contact any member • You will want to identify Members of the Lords who will support your campaign • Biographies of all Members of the Lords are available at www.parliament.uk • Hansard – the official report of proceedings in the Lords – is a good place to look for examples of Peers’ interests and causes

  10. Who leads on my policy issue in Government? • The 10 Downing Street website has a full list of all Government Ministers • There are links to each Department’s website, which give details of Ministers with their specific responsibilities www.number10.gov.uk

  11. How MPs and Lords scrutinise and influence Government policy in Parliament

  12. Parliamentary questions Can be used to: • Obtain information – stats, policies, positions • Press for action • Raise constituency issues • Challenge Government policy • Must have factual basis and relate to the running of a Government Department

  13. Parliamentary debates • Opposition day debates • Adjournment debates (HoC) • Back-Bench business debates (HoC) • Questions for Short Debate (HoL) Allows MPs and Members of the HoL to: • Raise constituency issues or matters of regional, national or international significance • Get the issue to the attention of a relevant minister

  14. Select Committees • Set up to scrutinise specific areas of work and government departments • Work carried out through public inquiries • Groups and individuals submit evidence to inquiries • Inquiry report created and usually passed to relevant government department

  15. Select Committees • You can contact the staff of Select Committees directly • You can ask them about forthcoming or planned inquiries • You can suggest areas that the Committee might like to look into • If an inquiry is taking place, you can contact Committee staff for advice on preparing written evidence • If you are called to give oral evidence, you can contact Committee staff for help to prepare • Select Committees can do follow-up inquiries after the Government have responded to their reports

  16. Select Committees

  17. Draft Bills and legislation

  18. Legislation – before arrival in Parliament • Green Papers: general discussion documents produced when Government is considering a new law • White Papers: produced by the Government with details of future policy on a particular subject –very close to what will be in a Bill • They have no legal force • Consultations may be carried out on both • Parliament will conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of any draft Bill

  19. Draft Bills • The Government publishes some Bills in draft form before they are introduced formally in Parliament • They receive pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament • The draft Bill will be considered either by an existing Select Committee or a specially convened ad hoc Committee

  20. Legislation • All legislation proposed by the Government must be scrutinised by both Houses of Parliament • Each Bill goes through the same stages in each House - First Reading, Second Reading, Committee, Report, Third Reading – before it reaches Royal Assent • Members can suggest changes (“amendments”) at particular stages • Much of the most careful scrutiny goes on in Committee, particularly in the House of Lords

  21. Passage through the Commons Amendments can be proposed. Detailed examination of the Bill in a Public Bill Committee (knives may be used) First opportunity for debate of the main principles of the Bill. Vote on whether the Bills proceeds Further amendment to the content of the Bill. All MPs may speak and vote; Speaker selects amendments for discussion Bill is introduced to the House; a formality Final chance for the Commons to debate the contents of a Bill, but no amendments. Vote on whether the Bill is approved

  22. Passage through the Lords Amendments can be proposed. Detailed examination of the Bill in a Committee of the Whole House (any Member). No time limit. Further line by line consideration of the Bill. All amendments can be discussed and any Member can take part. First opportunity for debate of the main principles of the Bill. List of Speakers is opened. Vote on whether the Bills proceeds Bill is introduced to the House; a formality Final chance to debate and change the Bill. Amendments can be made. Vote on whether the Bill is approved

  23. The final stages ‘Ping-pong’ . Both Houses must agree on the exact wording of a Bill before it can become an Act of Parliament Monarch's agreement to make the Bill into an Act and is a formality. When Royal Assent has been given, the announcement is usually made in both Houses by the Lord Speaker in the Lords and the Speaker in the Commons

  24. Private Members’ Bills • MPs and Lords can introduce their own Bills • In the Commons, MPs can bring in a Bill through the 10-minute rule • MPs can also enter the Private Members Bill ballot every session • If they are in the first 20 or so names, their Bill we be given debating time on a sitting Friday • Members of both Houses can also simply present new Bills, but they are not guaranteed any debating time

  25. All-party parliamentary groups • Cross-party • Both MPs and Members of the House of Lords • Based around common interest (e.g. Housing and care for older people, motor neurone disease, football) or countries of the world • Not involved in formal decision making, but important in developing knowledge

  26. All-party parliamentary groups

  27. Early day motions • Allows MPs to show their opinion on a particular subject

  28. Questions?

  29. Where can I get information? • www.parliament.uk • 020 7219 4272 – Commons information • 020 7219 3107 – Lords information

  30. Where can I get information? • Scrutiny Unit - 020 7219 8381; scrutiny@parliament.uk • Select Committees – contact details are on the Committees own homepage at www.parliament.uk • Contact details for any MP or Peer can be obtained at the Parliament homepage or through the House information lines

More Related