1. Revise the legislative process

The legislative process is the same in both the House of Commons and Lords. Once it has gone through one house, it is sent to the other.

Especially for the House of Lords, there is strict laws on what they are able to do within the legislative process.

1. First reading

• Formal introduction or reading of the bill’s title - done by the relevant government minister
• No voting/debating

2. Second reading

• Main debate over principles of the bill, takes place in chamber (i.e., Commons chamber)
• Government defeats at this stage are very rare
  • This was last in 1986 - Sunday Trading Bill

3. Committee stage

• Bills are sent to public bill committees
  • Members consider the bill - line by line
  • Amendments and expert witnesses are frequent here
  • Governing party majority
    • Power in committees
  • 2/3 of all MPs 2000 - 2010 brought some form of relevant experience or expertise to a committee
    • 87% of amendments accepted by the government came from these specialised MPs

4. Report stage

• Amendments agreed upon in committee stage are considered - accepted, rejected or changed
• Opportunity for further amendments to be put to the vote

5. Third reading (final draft)

• Final debate on amended version of the bill - NO FURTHER CHANGES PERMITTED

6. Other house

sent to other house - same stages repeated

2. Revise what Private Member’s Bills (PMBs) are

• Pushed by backbenchers rather than government
• Very few become law (5% chance)
• The government has support for their own laws, a random backbencher doe not
• Introduced by MPs/peers who are not government ministers - purpose of changing the law for the general population
• Allow backbenchers to raise issues not on the government’s agenda - can influence legislation through publicity

Types of PMBs

Ballot bills

• At the start of a parliamentary session
• Ballot is held
• 20 MPs names pulled get priority time to debate their bill
• Most common, often introduce something new

Ten minute rule bills

• MP gets a 10 minute slot to speak about their bills
  • Occurs after Question Time

Presentation bills

• Title is read out, no speech given

Examples

• Abortion Act 1967
  • Legalised abortion for the first time in the UK
  • Lawful up until the 28th week of pregnancy (later reduced to 24 in 1990 amendment)
  • David Steel
• Sexual Offences Act 1967
  • Decriminalised homosexual intercourse between men over the age of 21 in private
  • England and Wales only
  • Leo Abse (Commons), Lord Arran (Lords)

3. Watch and take notes on this video

• Legislation can be very technical and hard to understand
  • “Parliament-ese” is hard to learn - challenge which comes alongside being a new MP

4. Look through the current bills…

…on their way through the legislative process. Write down key information about 2 bills going through parliament, and 2 pieces of secondary legislation (Private Member’s Bills)

Public Bills

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Stage: House of Lords (from Commons), 2nd reading

Aims

• Create a clearer and more consistent system of devolution across England
• Give local and regional authorities greater powers over services and budgets
• Strengthen local democratic accountability
• Simplify the structure of local government and reduce overlap

Key Measures

• Establishes new Strategic Authorities to replace or merge existing regional bodies
• Requires councils to adopt a Leader and Cabinet model instead of committee systems
• Grants a General Power of Competence, allowing local authorities to act with greater freedom
• Transfers powers over transport, planning, licensing and local economic strategy
• Allows new arrangements for policing and fire services in certain areas
• Introduces frameworks for stronger local scrutiny and public participation

Implications

• More decisions made locally instead of centrally.
• Local authorities gain wider control of budgets and services
• Public services could become more tailored to local needs
• Some councils may face structural changes or mergers
• Mayors and regional bodies become more influential in planning, transport and growth
• Potential for greater variation in how areas use their new powers

Crime and Policing Bill

Stage: House of Lords (from Commons), Committee stage

Aims

• Reduce serious violence, knife crime, and violence against women and girls
• Strengthen policing and law enforcement powers to tackle crime, theft, antisocial behaviour, and organised crime
• Improve public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system

Key Measures

• Introduce “Respect Orders” to criminalise persistent antisocial behaviour
• Create a new offence of possessing a knife or offensive weapon with intent, and increase penalties for weapons offences and supply
• Establish a specific offence of assaulting retail workers and make all shop theft offences triable either way - regardless of value
• Grant police new powers to enter premises —-without a warrant - to search for and seize electronically-geolocated stolen goods (e.g. stolen phones or vehicles)
• Expand police power to drug-test suspects on arrest for a wider range of controlled drugs
• Strengthen powers over serious and organised crime: ban devices used in vehicle theft, enable disruption of criminal networks, extend corporate criminal liability
• Reform police accountability: allow Chief Constables to appeal misconduct decisions; strengthen procedures for police discipline; safeguard public and officer rights

Implications

• More robust tools for police to tackle theft, knife crime, antisocial behaviour and retail assault
• Quicker recovery of stolen items (phones, vehicles) thanks to new search powers
• Increased criminal liability for weapons offences and tougher sentences may act as a deterrent
• Enhanced police-accountability framework may help rebuild public trust
• Broader and earlier use of drug testing may lead to more arrests and prosecutions
• Expanded powers and responsibilities for police could raise concerns over civil liberties, misuse or overreach (given warrantless entry, broader arrest/testing powers, etc.)

PMBs

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

• Would allow mentally competent adults in England and Wales - with a prognosis of six months or less - to request medically assisted death
• Requires two independent doctors to assess eligibility (with at least a week between assessments)
• Person must make two separate declarations: an initial request, and a final signed request after a reflection period (14 days; shorter if death is imminent)
• Only for those resident in England or Wales
• Legalises assisted dying for a defined group of terminally ill adults
• Introduces strict controls and safeguards to ensure decision is voluntary and informed
• Potentially major shift in end-of-life law, with ethical, medical and legal consequences for healthcare providers, patients and families

Climate and Nature Bill

• Would require the government to set legally binding climate and nature (biodiversity) targets for the UK
• Creates a duty on the Secretary of State to produce and implement a strategy to meet those targets
• Proposes to establish a “Climate and Nature Assembly” to advise government - and involve existing bodies (like the climate-change and conservation committees) in delivering policy
• Statutory (legal) targets for greenhouse-gas reductions, biodiversity recovery, and nature protection across UK
• Formal accountability: government must regularly report progress, update strategy, and be held legally responsible for meeting goals
• Would embed long-term climate change and ecological protection into UK law, giving environmental targets greater legal weight
• Force governments (current and future) to plan proactively - not just set policy, but deliver results
• Could shape future laws on biodiversity, land use, conservation, emissions, nature restoration
• Would likely increase transparency and accountability on climate / nature performance across government

Research the passage of the Assisted Dying Bill…

…which is currently going through the House of Lords after passing all stages in the House of Commons. This is a highly controversial bill, researching how this Private Members Bill has been received and the amendments made from the backbenches in particular.

Bill

Stage: Committee stage State: The bill has been through harsh scrutiny but has seen a record number of amendments put forward by peers causing a notable delay, alongside slow debates.

6. Plan a 9 mark question using the following structure

Pay close attention to the examples you could choose to enhance your answer.

Explain and analyse three ways MPs can influence the legislative process (9 marks)

• Point
• Explain/Analyse (what does it mean? why is it significant? what effect does it have? What has this caused?
• Example (from real life)

Plan

• Paragraph 1
  • Backbencher MPs have several routes to push for/influence legislation
  • Ballot bills, ten minute bills, presentation bills, agenda influence
  • Assisted dying bill
• Paragraph 2
  • Legislation goes through severe scrutiny by all MPs
  • Second reading, committee stage, third reading - all are composed of many amendments and heavy scrutiny
  • Any MP can push for an amendment - crime and policing bill
• Paragraph 3
  • Voting on bills
  • MPs can vote on bills they support
  • Assisted dying bill - whips off

Writing

Backbencher MPs have several routes to push for legislation and/or influence future legislation by privately pushing for bills (PMBs). There are different forms of PMBs - ballot bills in which names are pulled randomly for priority, ten minute bills in which a bill get to be discussed for 10 minutes, presentation bills in which a bills name is read aloud. Each of these forms can be voted for and start the legislation process, if they are not successful they are still influential as MPs gain information about them, potentially changing the agenda. One example of a bill pushed by a backbencher is the assisted dying bill - it was originally planned to influence the agenda, but was successfully voted for and is now working through the legislative process.

Additionally, legislation goes through severe scrutiny by all MPs to ensure it is held up to a high standard. This is possible during the second reading, committee stage, third reading in which MPs are able to read over the legislation, criticise, give their opinion and amend. This can be seen in the crime and policing bill which has seen hundreds of amendments from hundreds of MPs due to its large and vast scope.

Further more, MPs can just simply vote on whether they support or do not support bills - affecting their progress through the legislative process and potentially preventing them from continuing, although this can be influenced by party whips due to their ability to threaten MPs, i.e., being able to withdraw the whip (expel them from the party). An example of MPs being able to vote on a bill is the assisted dying bill, a private members bill without the support of government/party, in which the whips were withdrawn in both Labour and the Conservatives, alongside other parties, allowing MPs to vote freely.