Post on 19-Feb-2017
Parliament and Legislation:
A Practical guide to Bills and Hybrid Bills
• 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
In your groups, complete the quiz: Circle or tick the answers you think are
correct Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers
– have a guess!
House of Commons
House of Lords
The Monarch
Makes and passes laws(Legislation)
Holds Government to account
Enables the Government to set taxes
Politically neutral Signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal
Assent) Opens Parliament each year
The democratically elected chamber of Parliament
There are 650 MPs All MPs are elected at least every 5 years
Making and passing laws Holding the Government to account Representing constituents Approving the Budget and setting taxes
The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament, also known as ‘the revising House’
There are 778 Members (as at April 2014) Members include:
◦ 665 Life Peers◦ 87 Hereditary Peers◦ 26 Bishops
Making and passing laws Holding the Government to account Debating key issues Scrutinising EU legislation
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 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
Bill is introduced to the House; a formality
First opportunity for debate of the main principles of the Bill. Vote on whether the Bills proceeds
Amendments can be proposed. Detailed examination of the Bill in a Public Bill Committee
Further amendment to the content of the Bill. All MPs may speak and vote; Speaker selects amendments for discussion
Final chance for the Commons to debate the contents of a Bill, but no amendments. Vote on whether the Bill is approved
Bill is introduced to the House; a formality
First opportunity for debate of the main principles of the Bill. List of Speakers is opened. Vote on whether the Bills proceeds
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.
Final chance to debate and change the Bill. Amendments can be made. Vote on whether the Bill is approved
‘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
Ways to influence legislation: Green Papers White Papers Pre-legislative Committees Public Bill Committees MPs and Members of the House of Lords
Hybrid bills are so called because they combine features of public bills and private bills. Essentially they are Government bills which affect certain individuals and bodies in ways that do not affect everybody
Infrastructure bills – and in particular transport infrastructure bills – tend to do this because they have different effects for different geographical parts of the route
http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/current-bills/previous-bills/hybrid-bills/hybrid-bill-faqs/
The HS2 Phase One Hybrid Bill Video As Chairman of Ways and Means and
Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP has oversight of House of Commons proceedings relating to hybrid bills
A petition is to Parliament not Government Petitioning period 21 days A summary of objections to particular
aspects of the bill stating what you’d like the Committee to do about it
It is a formal request for the petitioner to argue their cause to the Select Committee
Any Individual, group of individuals or organisation directly and specially affected by the bill
The bill title Which clauses of the bill are relevant to you
with an explanation of why Who you (the petitioner) are Why the bill affects you What you would like the Committee to do
about it
The petition should not ask the Committee to reject the bill as they are not able to do that. However you can lobby your MP on this before second reading.
Following Second Reading petitioning period and arrangements will be announced
Petitions submitted to Parliament at Portcullis House
£20 fee
Approximately 10 weeks after petitioning ends
Quasi-judicial evidence taken under oath Mitigation, compensation and adjustment Judges the locus standi (the right of a party
to appear and be heard before a court) Petitioners heard sequentially by location Can give much more detail than the petition
but can only refer to things highlighted in the petition – the petition is the basis of your case
Unlike a normal Public Bill Committee they don’t take written and oral evidence
Examine Bills clause by clause Members of the Committee can ask for
changes by tabling amendments Reports its findings to the main Chamber
Bill may have changed in some significant ways
This affects who can petition the bill as they need to be directly and specially affected
As the examiners have already looked at the bill they don’t look again
Second Reading debate on main principles of the Bill. You can contact members of the House of Lords
You can contact any Member of the House of Lords about issues that you would like Parliament to look at
You can find out what individual Lords are interested in by looking on the Parliament website
Members pages list subjects and topics that they are particularly interested in
Look for members of relevant APPG’s Look at what Members have said in previous
debates View the list of speakers at Second Reading
Five members that are chosen by the Chair of Committees
Petitioning period usually 21 days Private Bill Office in the House of Lords can
assist Petitioners must be directly and specially
affected by the bill Can petition in the House of Lords if you have
already petitioned in the House of Commons Double check that the bill still contains the
aspect that you may not agree with
In groups:Look at the Guide to PetitioningDecide if you meet the criteria to petition or if your ‘locus standi’ could be challenged Read the example of cross rail petition Appendix BWrite your own petition using the format set out in Appendix A
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