House of Lords written question – answered at on 29 July 2002.
Lord Harris of Haringey
Labour
asked the Chairman of Committees:
When the procedural changes agreed to on Wednesday 24 July will take effect.
Lord Tordoff
Chairman of Committees, House of Lords
The Procedure Committee recommended (5th Report, paragraph 3), and the House has now agreed, that implementation should be phased in with effect from the start of the next Session (2002–03) as resources become available. The following changes will therefore take effect at the start of the Session:
Additional topical Starred Question on Tuesday and Wednesday; Question Time on those days extended from 30 to 40 minutes;
Number of topical Questions per Member per Session raised from two to four;
Motion after Second Reading to commit each Bill to the appropriate committee (subject to Amendment of Standing Order 47, which will be done in the spill-over);
House normally to rise by about 10 pm on Monday to Wednesday;
New timetable for Thursday as follows:
11 am—House sits for Public Business
1.30 pm—House adjourns during pleasure
3 pm—House resumes, starting with Starred Questions
7.30 or earlier depending on business, for 1- hours—Unstarred Questions (if desired).
The other matters will be introduced as resources become available.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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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 Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
Public Business is the main business of the day that follows questions, urgent questions and statements.
http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/procedure_committee.cfm
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
