House of Lords written statement – made at on 11 June 2009.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, House of Lords, Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
My Honourable Friend the Minister of State, Government Equalities Office (Maria Eagle) has made the following Statement.
The Equality Bill, currently before Parliament, will introduce a new single equality duty which will bring together the three existing race, disability and gender equality duties and extend to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief and gender reassignment in full. The equality duty will be supported by a number of specific duties, to be set out in secondary legislation, which will help public authorities in the better performance of the duty.
In June 2008, the Government said we would consult on our policy proposals for specific duties. The document we are publishing today sets out our proposals and asks for comments. The consultation period will run until September 2009.
I am placing copies of this document in the Libraries of the House. Copies will also be available on the Government Equalities Office website at www.equalities. gov.uk.
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.
When speaking in the House of Commons, an MP will refer to an MP of the same party as "My Honourable Friend".
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
