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Visit http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1
999/01/99/lords_reform/252856.stm
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? Starter

• Watch Parliament Uncovered on the House of
  Lords and complete a table similar to the one
  below. What are the differences between Life,
  Hereditary Peoples Peers?

Differences from the HoC Similarities with HoC

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Answers
Differences from the HoC Similarities with HoC
Unelected Lords (not MPs) Life, Hereditary Peoples Second Chamber has a secondary role Not paid Judicial role includes Law Lords Includes clerics bishops archbishops Scrutinises Debates Select committees (though not departmental) Whips Speaker (though called Lord Chancellor in HoL) Acts as a check on govt.
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Do we need an Upper Chamber?
? Aims

• To identify the membership key functions of the
  HoL
• To compare the functions of the HoC with those of
  the HoL

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? Your task

• Using Roberts, p.286. Write short definitions of
  the following
• Lords Temporal
• Lords Spiritual
• Hereditary peers
• Life peers
• Non-party or peoples peers
• Crossbenchers

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Membership of HoL

• Lords Temporal (Peers that have been created by
  the monarch on the advice of the PM)
• Lords Spiritual (26 most senior bishops)
• Hereditary peers (Peers who inherited their
  title)
• Life peers (Appointed as members for life, i.e.
  non-hereditary)
• Non-party or peoples peers (Recommended on the
  advice of the public by the Appointments
  Commission)
• Crossbenchers (Independent peers)

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Composition of the Lords

• November 1999 House of Lords Act (second stage
  recently abandoned)
• First stage of reform of upper house
• 92 hereditary peers (c.10 of total) remained
• 10 hereditary peers given life peerages
• 2000, Appointments Commission
• set up to recommend peoples peers
• 679 peers, 113 women (Feb. 2004)

Baroness Amos. Are women better represented in
the HoL compared with the HoC?
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Before reform
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After reform (1999)
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? Your task

• Study Roberts, p.287-8 and Watts p.186-7 and
  create a spider diagram summarising the key
  functions of the HoL
• legislative role
• scrutinising role
• deliberative role
• legitimating role
• judicial role

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Legislative role

• HoL amends revises Bills sent from HoC
• More leisurely pace less partisan allows for
  more detailed examination of Bills
• Substantive amendments likely to be overturned in
  HoC

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Legislative role

• Parliament Act, 1911

• Removed Lords power of veto over public
  legislation
• Power to delay Bills for maximum of two years
  (reduced to 1 year, Parl. Act, 1949)
• Removed HoL power to amend or veto money Bills
• Powers to veto any proposal to extend life of a
  Parl. Beyond 5 years

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Legislative role

• Salisbury doctrine (convention)
• Conservative Leader of the Lords, Lord Salisbury,
  1945
• Since Labour govt. had a mandate to introduce
  policies such as nationalisation welfare state,
  Lords should not oppose them at second reading

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Scrutinising role

• HoL no structure of departmental select
  committees
• HoL can set up committees to investigate
  particular policy areas or subjects

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Scrutinising role

• Select Committee on European Communities
• 6 sub-committees
• Investigates Euro policies which raise important
  questions of policy or principle
• Could consider merits of proposals as well as
  detail
• Could employ specialist advisers
• Widely admired (e.g. Norton)

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Scrutinising role

• Joint committee for scrutinising delegated
  legislation
• Members of both Houses scrutinised delegated
  legislation such as statutory instruments

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Scrutinising role

• Question Time in HoL
• Question time is briefer (30 mins. Compared with
  55 mins for Ministerial Questions)
• Up to four starred questions answered per day
  by one peer

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Deliberative role

• Whips are present but not adhered to as rigidly
  as in HoC
• Quality of HoL debates is open to interpretation
  (click here for Adonis view)

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Legitimating role

• HoC is chief legitimating (approval giving) body
  because it is elected
• HoL contributes to legitimating because it gives
  formal approval to Bills

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Judicial role

• HoL is the highest court of appeal
• Law Lords (including Lord Chancellor) are part of
  HoL

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? Your task

• Roberts p. 289. Use items A B to list the ways
  in which the procedures of the HoL differ from
  the HoC.
• Give arguments for and against maintaining that
  the HoL plays an important role using items A-C.
• Study items C D. Why do you think New Labour is
  so determined to reform the HoL?

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?

• This house believes the HoL is out of date and
  undemocratic and should be replaced by a wholly
  elected second chamber.

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?

• Do you think the House of Lords still has an
  important role to play in modern society? Look
  back over the different functions of the House of
  Lords and decide which in your view is the most
  important. Be prepared to explain your choice.

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Statutory instruments

• In order to reduce unnecessary pressure on
  parliamentary time, primary legislation often
  gives ministers or other authorities the power to
  regulate administrative details by means of
  secondary or delegated legislation known as
  statutory instruments. These instruments are as
  much the law of the land as an Act of Parliament.
  There are about 2,000 statutory instruments each
  year
• HMSO, 1994, pp.77-8

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Starred questions

• Starred questions are so-called because they
  appear on the order paper with an asterisk
  against them. They are asked in order to obtain
  specific information, and not with a view to
  making a speech or raising a debate, although
  supplementaries may be asked. In addition
  unstarred (debatable) questions may be asked at
  the end of business on any day, when speeches may
  be made.
• HMSO, 1994, pp.91-2

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HoL Debates Adonis view

• Lords debates may not entirely be without
  influence, but they rarely make an impact which
  is more than minor and indirect.
• Adonis, 1993, p.216