ciarán norris
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Ciarán Norris. How Parliament Works. 8 February 2010. Order of the day. About Outreach The Election Overview of Parliament Role of an MP Get Involved Parliament and Government. Parliamentary Outreach. A service from the Houses of Parliament Politically neutral - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
How Parliament Works
8 February 2010
About OutreachThe ElectionOverview of ParliamentRole of an MPGet InvolvedParliament and Government
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
Took place on Thursday May 6 2010
What was decided?
650 seats in House of Commons
UK Government
What about the House of Lords?
Conservative - 307
Labour - 258
Lib Dem - 57
DUP - 8
SNP - 6
Sinn Fein - 5
Plaid Cymru - 3
SDLP - 3
Green - 1
Alliance - 1
Independent - 1
Speaker - 1
If a single party had won over 50% of seats: -automatically form Government
However, no party received over 50% of seats:◦ Largest party could have
formed minority Government
◦ Two parties formed a newCoalition Government
◦ There could have been a re-election
Coalition formed between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats
Cabinet formed
Shadow Cabinet announced
New Parliament convenes / MPs sworn in
Membership of Committees announced
The Opposition sought a new leader
House of Commons
House of Lords
Monarch
Makes and passes laws(Legislation)
Holds Government to account
Enables the Government to set taxes
Parliament debates and discusses a huge range of subjects that affect us all
Health and housing, schools and pensions, jobs and training, the way in which we choose our politicians, the way our streets are policed, laws on immigration, roads and railways, energy sources
Your MP can raise issues that are important to you
The democratically elected chamber of Parliament
There are currently 650 MPs
All MPs are elected at least every 5 years
Making and passing laws
Holding the Government to account
Raising key issues
Representing constituents
Approving the Budget and setting taxes
The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament, often known as the revising House
There are currently 824 Members (as of February 2011)
These include:◦706 Life Peers ◦92 Hereditary Peers◦26 Bishops
Scrutinise and make legislation
They play an important role in the passing of laws
Hold Ministers to account through questions and debates
Debate key issues at length and in detail
Scrutinise EU legislation
A politically neutral role Signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal Assent)
Opens Parliament each year
The Prime Minister The Cabinet
The party or parties who can command the confidence of the House of Commons forms the Government
The Government: runs public departments i.e. The Home
Office, NHS proposes new laws to Parliament is accountable to Parliament
• Commons, Lords, Monarch
• Holds Government to account• Passes laws• Enables taxation• Represents public • Raises key issues
• Formed by the party who can command the confidence of the Commons
• Some MPs and Lords• Runs Government
departments and public services
• Accountable to Parliament
Government(Whitehall)
In Parliament
Represents their constituency
Raises issues on behalf of constituents
Passes new laws Scrutinises the work
of Government
In the Constituency
Helps constituents with problems
Visits groups and individuals to hear issues/ concerns
Represents constituents to various bodies
Campaigns
Questions to Ministers
Adjournment/ Westminster Hall debates
Early Day Motions
Meetings with Ministers
As well as questions, debates, early-day motions
Select Committees
All-Party Parliamentary Groups
10-Minute Rule Bill/ Private Members Bills
• All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross party groups
• There are ‘subject’ groups and ‘country’ groups i.e. Housing or Italy
• MPs and Lords form these groups to build their knowledge of a particular area
• There is a register of APPGs on the Parliament website
• APPGs are a useful way to identify MPs/Lords with an interest in a certain cause
All UK laws decided by Parliament
Government and individual members can propose laws
However, majority of laws passed come from Government
e.g. Welfare Reform Act
Lords
Bill presented /First Reading
Commons
Second Reading
Public BillCommittee
Committee of the Whole House
Report Third Reading
Bill presented /First Reading
Second ReadingCommittee
(whole House)Report Third Reading
After
Consideration ofLords Amendments Ping Pong Royal Assent Regulations
You can get involved through lots of different ways including:
Contacting your MP, requesting that they ask a question, present a petition or raise a debate on your behalf
Contacting any Lord, requesting that they ask a question or raise a debate
Working with a Select Committee; submitting evidence, raising issues
You can contact your local MP about any issue that affects you in your constituency.
You can request that your MP asks a question, presents a petition or raises a debate on your behalf.
You can find out who your MP is on the Parliament website
You can contact any Lord (Peer) about issues that you would like Parliament to look at.
You can request that a Lord asks a question or raises a debate on your behalf.
It is useful to contact a Lord who has a particular interest in your issue. You can find out what individual Lords are interested in by looking on the Parliament website.
Local MP in first instance
Identify & contact Parliamentarians with an interest
Be clear on your aims
Remember party & Government positions
Be positive and proactive
www.parliament.uk
Commons Information Office020 7219 4272
Lords Information Office020 7219 3107