The document provides details about the House of Lords, including its history dating back to the 11th century. It discusses the roles and functions of the House of Lords such as scrutinizing legislation and serving as the final court of appeal. The document also outlines the membership and leadership structure including the Lord Speaker, as well as daily business proceedings and select committees.
3. 11th century: originsoftheParliament 14th century: twodistincthousesemerge 1642: bishopswereexcludeduntil 1661 Bill of Rights 1689: Parliament’sauthorityover King 1707; 1800: ActsofUnion 1847: Bishopricof Manchester Act AppellateJurisdictionAct 1876: judicialrights History: Beforethe 20th Century
4. ParliamentAct 1911: approvinglaws ParliamentAct 1949: changedtheActof 1911 LifePeeragesAct 1958: lifetimepeerages HouseofLordsAct 1999: no hereditarypeers History: the 20th Century
5. Constitutional Reform Act 2005: judicialfunctionremoved 2006: electionsfor a Lord Speaker 2009: newsupremecourt History: the 21st century
6. Represents the House of Lords Appointed by the members of the House of Lords Maximum term of 5 years Should be politically impartial Baroness Hayman Leadership: the Lord Speaker
7. Arranges government business Reminds the House of their rules on proceedings Determines the order of Speakers on Supplementary Questions Lord Strathclyde Leadership: the Leader
9. House of Lords Appointments Commission New Year’s Honours and Birthday Honours DissolutionHonours ResignationHonours Politicallists/’workingPeers’ Adhocannouncements Archbishops and bishops Speakers Ways of Becoming a Member
10. Make laws Check the work ofthe Government Form committees Do not draw salaries Individual Lords
Thefunctionsofthe Lord Speaker are totakethechairin debates, toadvisetheHouseofLords on proceduralrules; tospeakfortheHouseofLords on importantoccasions and tobeitsambassadorinthe UK and overseas. The Lord Speaker is elected bythemembersoftheHouseofLordsfor a maximum term of five years, and may serve a maximum of two terms.The Lord Speakerisexpectedtobepoliticallyimpartialwhichmeansnotbelongingtoanypoliticalparties. Thecurrent Lord SpeakerisBaronessHayman (sinceJuly 2006).
TheLeaderis a memberoftheCabinetoftheUnitedKingdom.HeisthemostseniormemberoftheGovernmentintheLords and isresponsibleforarranginggovernmentbusiness and hasresponsibilitiestotheHouseas a wholeeventhoughheis a partisan figure. AsthepeerscontroltheirproceedingsintheHouseofLordsbutthere are stillcertainrulesset, theLeaderhastoremindoftheserules. TheLeaderalsodeterminesthe order ofSpeakers on SupplementaryQuestions. ThecurrentLeaderis Lord Strathclyde (sinceMay 2010). HeisalsotheleaderoftheConservativeParty.
Life Peers are appointed for their lifetime and they make up the majority of the membership, it is about 630 out of about 750. The power to appoint them belongs to the Crown but the advice of the Prime Minister is important. Their titles are not passed on to their children. 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham, the Bishop of Winchester and the 21 longest-serving bishops from other dioceses in the Church of England) sit in the House, passing their membership on to the next most senior bishop when they retire. The right of hereditary Peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords was ended in 1999 by the House of Lords Act but 92 Members were elected to remain until the next stage of the Lords reform process.
1. It has two main functions: tomake recommendations to the Queen for non-political Peers and to vet for propriety all nominations forpeerages, including those from political parties. 2. To celebrate the Queen’s official birthday in early June but it has become rare. 3. Some MPs from all parties who are leaving the House of Commons may be given peerages. 4. When a prime minister resigns, he or she may recommend peerages for people who have supported them. 5. The Members who have been appointed on a party basis. 6. These can cover peerages for someone appointed as a minister who is not a Member of the House. 7. The remaining diocesan bishops qualify for membership according to seniority. 8. Former Speakers of the House of Commons have traditionally been awarded a peerage at the request of theHouse of Commons.
The members propose, revise and amend legislation. Checking the work of the Government means that the Lords question and debate over the decisions made by Ministers and Government Departments. There are committees the work of which is related to Europe, science and technology, economics, communication, constitution. At times, one-off committees are formed to deal with issues which don’t belong to these areas.The Lords are not paid for their work, except for the Government Ministers, the Lord Speaker, the Chairman of Committees and the Principal Deputy Chairman.
Oral Questions: questions to the Government. Sometimes some issues are raised to find out the Government’s position on it. Legislative business: proposals for new laws are discussed. Short debate: for an hour, a short debate on a particular subject is held to shape public policy. House rises: the business is finished at this time. General debates: debates on a wide variety of subjects are initiated by backbench Members. Legislation: the House considers the proposals for new laws from backbench Members. BackbenchMembers are memberswhodon’thaveanimportantofficialposition.
