House of Lords written statement – made at on 23 November 2006.
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Plaskitt) has made the following Statement.
On behalf of my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the BFI inspection reports on the following councils were published today: Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Lewes District Council and South Lanarkshire Council. Copies have been placed in the library. The BFI reports detail a range of strengths and weaknesses in the housing benefit services provided by councils and make recommendations to improve the security and efficiency of benefit delivery. My Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State is considering the reports and may ask the councils for proposals in response to BFI's findings.
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.
This phrase is often used in written answers to indicate that a minister has deposited some relevant information in the House of Commons Library. Typical content includes research reports, letters, and tables of data not published elsewhere.
A list of such depositions can be found at http://deposits.parliament.uk/ along with some of the documents. The Library is not open to the public, but copies of documents can be requested if they are not on that website. For more information, see the House of Commons factsheet: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/P15.pdf
When speaking in the House of Commons, an MP will refer to another MP of the same party who is a member of the Privy Council as "my Right Honourable Friend"
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Right Honourable is a form of address used within the House of Commons, for members of the Privy Council. Members of the person’s own party will refer to them as ‘My Right Honourable Friend, the member for [constituency]’. Members of other parties will refer to them as ‘The Right Honourable Lady/Gentleman, the member for [constituency]’. The Privy Council consists of, among others, Cabinet ministers and a number of junior ministers as well as former office holders.
When speaking in the House of Commons, an MP will refer to an MP of the same party as "My Honourable Friend".
