Orders of the Day — Civil Estimates and Supplementary Estimates, 1947–48 – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 July 1947.
"That a sum, not exceeding £8,680,746, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1948, for Expenditure in respect of the Services included in Class I of the Civil Estimates, namely:
| £ | ||
| 1. | House of Lords | 56,388 |
| 2. | House of Commons | 552,192 |
| 3. | Registration of Electors | 216,000 |
| 4. | Treasury and Subordinate Departments (including a Supplementary sum of £99,587) | 1,709,398 |
| 5. | Ministry of Defence | 264,109 |
| 6. | Privy Council Office | 18,227 |
| 7. | Privy Seal Office | 7,370 |
| 8. | Charity Commission | 39,817 |
| 9. | Civil Service Commission | 292,650 |
| 10. | Exchequer and Audit Department | 222,290 |
| 11. | Government Actuary | 26,153 |
| 12. | Government Chemist | 100,914 |
| 13. | Government Hospitality | 33,000 |
| 14. | The Mint | 90 |
| 15. | National Debt Office | 3,582 |
| 16. | National Savings Committee | 933,900 |
| 17. | Overlapping Income Tax Payments | 700,000 |
| 18. | Public Record Office | 39,248 |
| 19. | Public Works Loan Commission | 90 |
| 20. | Repayments to the Local Loans Fund | 15,000 |
| 21. | Royal Commissions, etc. | 132,000 |
| 22. | Secret Service | 1,500,000 |
| 23. | Tithe Redemption Commission | 90 |
| 24. | Treasury Chest Fund | 6,047 |
| 25. | Miscellaneous Expenses | 1,404,381 |
| 25A | Repayments to the Civil Contingencies Fund | 38,060 |
| 26. | Scottish Home Department | 369,750 |
| £8,680,746" |
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
The Privy Council goes back to the earliest days of the Monarchy, when it comprised those appointed by the King or Queen to advise on matters of state.
As the constitution developed into today's constitutional monarchy, under which The Sovereign acts on the advice of Ministers, so the Privy Council adapted. Its day to day business is transacted by those of Her Majesty's Ministers who are Privy Counsellors, that is all Cabinet Ministers and a number of junior Ministers. Membership of the Privy Council brings with it the right to be called "Right Honourable".
The Privy Council still meets regularly, on average once a month, but, as with the Cabinet, most of its business is transacted in discussion and correspondence between its Ministerial members and the Government Departments that advise them. The Privy Council Office (which is itself a Government Department) provides a secretariat for these discussions, as the Cabinet Office does in relation to the business of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees. Councils are held by The Queen and are attended by Ministers and the Clerk of the Council. At each meeting the Council will obtain Her Majesty's formal approval to a number of Orders which have already been discussed and approved by Ministers, much as Acts of Parliament become law through the giving of the Royal Assent after having been debated in Parliament.
Meetings are reported in the Court Circular, along with the names of Ministers attending (usually four in number). The Orders made at each Council are in the public domain, and each bears the date and place of the Council at which it was made. There is therefore nothing at all "secret" about Privy Council meetings. The myth that the Privy Council is a secretive body springs from the wording of the Privy Counsellor's Oath , which, in its current form, dates back to Tudor times. It requires those taking it to "keep secret all matters...treated of in Council". The Oath (or solemn affirmation for those who cannot take an Oath) is still administered, and is still binding; but it is only in very special circumstances nowadays that matters will come to a Privy Counsellor on "Privy Council terms". These will mostly concern matters of the national interest where it is important for senior members of Opposition parties to have access to Government information.
