House of Lords written statement – made at on 15 November 2006.
Baroness Amos
President of the Council, Privy Council Office, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords (Privy Council Office)
Listed below are those Bills that the Government intend to bring forward. Details of each of these Bills are available from the Leader of the House of Commons website at www.CommonsLeader.gov.uk.
1. Asylum and Immigration
2. Child Support
3. Climate Change
4. Concessionary Bus Travel
5. Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress
6. Counter Terrorism1
7. Criminal Justice
8. Further Education
9. Fraud (Trials without a Jury)
10. Greater London Authority
11. House of Lords
12. Justice and Security (Northern Ireland)
13. Local Government
14. Mental Health
15. Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement)2
16. Offender Management
17. Organised Crime
18. Pensions
19. Statistics and Registration Service
20. Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement
21. Welfare Reform (carryover)
22. Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide (carryover)
23. Crossrail (carryover)
24. Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information)
25. Legal Services
26. Exchanges and Clearing Houses
27. Party Funding
Draft Bills
1. Human Tissue and Embryos
2. Road Transport
3. Hague Convention (Artefacts in War)
4. Local Better Regulation Office
1 The Counter Terrorism Bill will be introduced if needed following a review being chaired by the Home Secretary.
2 The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill will be brought forward as an emergency measure early in the Session.
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 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.
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
