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Houses of Parliament: Sitting Hours

House of Lords written question – answered at on 28 October 2002.

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Photo of Lord Lipsey Lord Lipsey Labour

asked the Chairman of Committees:

Further to his Written Answer of 23 October (WA106), what are the correct figures for the number of hours sat by (a) the House of Lords; and (b) the Houses of Commons in the 2001–02 Session.

Photo of Lord Tordoff Lord Tordoff Chairman of Committees, House of Lords

In the 2001–02 Session, up to and including 24 October 2002, the House of Lords has sat for 1,333 hours and 41 minutes, and the House of Commons has sat for 1,459 hours and 17 minutes. These figures exclude sittings for formal business, such as swearing in, and Sittings of the House of Lords for judicial business. Sittings in Grand Committee or Westminster Hall are alo excluded. I regret that the figure for Commons sitting hours which was given in my earlier answer, based on information supplied by the Commons, was incorrect.

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House of Lords

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.

House of Commons

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.