UK Parliament — страница 3

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turned for advice and leadership on points of order and procedure. These office holders and officers, together with the Law Lords, receive salaries. All other members of the House of Lords are unpaid, but they are entitled to reimbursement of their expenses, within maximum limits for each day on which they attend the House. The Clerk of the Parliament, a role like that of a chief execute, is head of administration. The Gentlemen Usher of the Black Rod has ceremonial and royal duties and is in charge of security, access and domestic matters. Members of the House of Lords are not elected and, with the exception of bishops who leave the House on retirement, they retain their seats for life. The House of Commons. The House of Commons is the centre of parliamentary power. It is

directly responsible to the electorate, and from the 20th century the House of Lords has recognized the supremacy of the elected chamber. The House of Commons is traditionally regarded as the lower house, but it is the main parliamentary arena for political battle. A Government can only remain in office for as long as it has the support of a majority in the House of Commons. As with the House of Lords, the House of Commons debates new primary legislation as part of the process of making an Act of Parliament, but the Commons has primacy over the non-elected House of Lords. 'Money bills', concerned solely with taxation and public expenditure, are always introduced in the Commons and must be passed by the Lords promptly and without amendment. When the two houses disagree on a

non-money bill, the Parliament Act can be invoked to ensure that the will of the elected chamber prevails. The House also scrutinizes the work of the Government - it does that by various means, including questioning ministers in the Chamber and through the Select Committee system. The leader of the party that wins the majority of Commons seats in a general election is called on to form the next government. The life of a Parliament is divided into sessions. Each usually lasts for one year - normally ending in October or November when Parliament is 'prorogued', followed shortly by the State Opening of Parliament, marking the beginning of the new session. The two Houses do not normally sit at weekends, at Christmas, Easter and the late Spring Bank Holiday. In the Commons there is

also a 'half-term' break of a week in February. The traditional long summer break ('recess'), starting in late July and finishing in October is set to change from the 2002-03 session, with the Houses rising earlier in July, but returning to sit for two weeks in September. Sessions may be longer if there has been an election - for example the session following the 2001 general election ran for over a year, from summer 2001 to autumn 2002. The average number of days when Parliament sits during the year is about 155 in the House of Commons. Traditionally the schedule in the House of Lords has been not so demanding, but in some recent years the Lords has sat on more days than the Commons. There is often a surge in the number of Bills getting Royal Assent just before the summer

parliamentary recess. Not all Bills are completed then, and some are held over until Parliament starts up again in October. Remaining parliamentary business is then completed. Each session is ended by prorogation. Usually, Public Bills which have not been passed by the end of the session are lost, although changes to standing orders in the 2002-03 parliamentary session allow for more public bills to be 'carried-over' and continue their passage in the following session, as private and Hybrid Bills may. The House has frequently considered changing the hours at which it meets. These new sitting hours are designed to make things easier for those MPs with families and those with provincial constituencies. They include earlier sitting days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and

will mean fewer Friday sessions. Certain business is exempt from the normal closing times. The Commons often sits later than the 'moment of interruption' - and late night sittings will still be possible. The House also meets for debate in Westminster Hall (in fact in a specially converted room off the main Hall). Sitting hours are: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.30 to 11.30am and from 2 - 4.30pm, and Thursdays from 2.30pm continuing for up to 3 hours. These sessions are designed to give backbenchers more time to debate issues which cannot find space in the crowded schedule of the Chamber. Parliamentary procedure is based on custom and precedent, partly codified by each House in its Standing Orders. The system of debate is similar in both Houses. Every subject starts off as a