Department for Exiting the European Union written question – answered at on 22 August 2018.
Lord Boswell of Aynho
Chair, European Union Committee, Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, Deputy Speaker (Lords), Chair, European Union Committee
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each government department, from January to June 2018, on how many occasions the Scrutiny Reserve Resolution was overridden in (1) the House of Lords, and (2) the House of Commons; and in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses, (b) the House of Lords, and (c) the House of Commons.
Lord Callanan
Minister of State (Department for Exiting the European Union)
Between January and June 2018, 572 Explanatory Memoranda on EU proposals and other documents were submitted for scrutiny.
Across both Houses there were 35 occasions when the Government supported decisions in the EU Council of Ministers before the scrutiny procedures had been completed.
As with previous six-monthly periods, the largest category of instruments were fast-moving and sensitive Common Foreign and Security Policy/EU restrictive measures proposals where there were 32 such instruments adopted before scrutiny could be completed.
The figures requested are set out below:
Department | (1 & b). House of Lords override | (2 & c). House Commons override | (a).No. of overrides in both Houses at same time | Total no. of overrides |
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office | 32 | 31 | 30 | 33 |
Totals | 34 | 33 | 32 | 35 |
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
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.
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.
An informal reference to the Council of the European Union.
