A
guide to Westminster
Legislation stems from an extensive
process of inspiration, deliberation and reformation before it
arrives on the statute book. Understanding how this process develops
and where and when to feed into it forms a crucial part of making
politics and government work for you.
Making
it law
The procedure for introducing primary legislation
through parliament passes through a number of regular steps.
First Reading
Following a period of consultation and policy
review the government will draw up a bill. The bill then receives
a First Reading. This is a procedural stage only. A dummy copy
of the bill is laid before the House and a notional day for the
Second Reading is set. The bill is ordered to be printed at this
point, and becomes available to the public shortly afterwards.
Second Reading
Second Reading is the first substantive period
of debate of the bill. As a rule of thumb it will generally take
place two weeks after First Reading. This provides MPs and other
interested parties with the opportunity to digest the implications.
The Second Reading debate is a period for general principles only.
The responsible government minister will set out the purpose of
the bill, and (s)he is followed by a succession of backbenchers
with an interest. Following the debate the House divides on whether
the bill should be passed to Committee for detailed, clause by
clause, deliberation. It is extremely rare for a government bill
not to receive a Second Reading. With the current Government’s
majority it should be impossible.
Committee
The size and membership of the standing committee
is dependent on a number of factors, decided on by the Committee
of Selection. A committee may be formed of anything between 16
and 50 MPs. Membership, generally reflecting the composition of
the House, is decided on following representations from individual
MPs, party whips and the departments concerned. Backbench MPs
with a strong constituency, industry or personal interest are
likely to lobby hard for selection.
The committee members will table amendments
and new clauses to the bill. This is another key area where outside
interests may get involved in the legislative process, providing
briefings to members on potential improvements to aspects of the
bill that the original draft may have overlooked.
Report and Third Reading
The committee then reports back to the Chamber
where the whole House may comment and vote on the changes the
committee has made. This is the first detailed review of the bill
by members not present in committee and again provides an opportunity
for amendments and new clauses to be added. Following the Report,
the bill will receive its Third Reading; this is a formal procedure
and substantive amendments may not be made.
The Lords
The bill then passes to the Lords, who will
consider the bill in their turn. The procedure for the Lords is
substantively similar to the Commons; one major difference being
that the committee stage often is considered by the whole House.
Back to the Commons…
Any amendments are passed back to the Commons
for consideration and a period of parliamentary ping-pong may
follow. Should the two Houses reach an impasse, the Parliament
Act 1949 allows for the will of the Commons to prevail.
A small proportion of bills are introduced in
the Lords before passing to the Commons. This is because the subject
of the bill falls under the remit of a Minister in the Lords,
or that the relevant Minister in the Commons is already responsible
for a number of bills. However, the Commons remains the senior
partner where there is disagreement.
Government success
If one looks back through the statistics it
is exceedingly rare that government will fail to get its bills
through. Even in the last year of John Major’s government,
no bill was rejected in its entirety. Some take this to be an
example of compliant backbenchers rubberstamping legislation,
but this is an erroneous view. MPs are extremely adept at communicating
their opinions to ministers. Business managers in the Queen’s
Speech and Ministerial Committee on the Legislative Programme
will take this into account when planning the future programme.
The limited supply of parliamentary time is greatly outweighed
by the demands of departments trying to push through their programmes.
There is little point in a minister attempting to force through
legislation that is bound to fail, especially when they have to
consider the glee with which the press and opposition will latch
onto any expression of rebellion (otherwise known as parliamentary
democracy). Staying in close contact with influential backbench
MPs ensures due consideration before presentation. Rumours of
the death of Parliament have been greatly exaggerated
|
