House of Lords written statement – made at on 17 October 2013.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
My Hon Friend the Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs (Jo Swinson) has made the following statement
I am pleased to announce that the Government has written to the Low Pay Commission setting out what we would like the Commission to consider on the National Minimum Wage. The document contains the Government’s interim evidence on economic and non-economic issues, including the minimum wage rates and the youth labour market. An updated version of the evidence will be published later when the latest information on earnings and economic forecasts will be included.
A copy of the evidence will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and will be available at www.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.
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.
