Law-Making in the two Houses
Political Studies: Edexcel A Level, topic 9.3.2
Commons and Lords during Lawmaking
There are several interactions between the two houses when legislation is made. The House of Commons has legislative primacy over the House of Lords in the law-making process.
Parliament Acts
- The Parliament Act 1911 and Parliament Act 1949 allow the Commons to override the Lords after a delay.
- This ensures the elected House can ultimately pass legislation without the Lords’ consent.
Exchange of amendments
- Both the House of Commons and House of Lords exchanging amendments to bills with one another is a key form of interaction between both chambers, and is termed ‘ping-pong’.
- The exchange of amendments takes place after both Houses have considered the bill, and requires both chambers to agree on amendments and final wording before it can become law.
The Salisbury Convention
- The Salisbury Convention states that the House of Lords should not oppose legislation from the elected government’s manifesto.
- The Convention says that the House of Lords should not vote against the bill at the second reading stage and not introduce amendments which change the meaning of a bill from how the government intended in its manifesto.
- The Salisbury Convention is an example of how the House of Commons has primacy over the House of Lords in law-making.
- Its relevance has been questioned in recent years, particularly where mandates are unclear.
Financial legislation
- The House of Commons has greater power than the House of Lords when making financial laws.
- The Parliament Act 1911 prevents the Lords from amending or blocking money bills, which relate to taxation and government spending.
- The Finance Act 2018 was financial legislation which Parliament passed in March 2018 without the House of Lords making amendments.
Reasonable time
- There is a convention that the House of Lords will review laws relating to government policies within a reasonable period of time.
- The House of Lords took a long time to start the committee stage of the 2002 Animal Health Bill which led to a four- month delay for it to become law.
Secondary legislation
- The House of Lords has the power to reject secondary legislation (laws created by ministers that add details to existing Acts of Parliament).
- However, there is a convention that the House of Lords should not reject secondary legislation.
- Secondary legislation amends existing laws to ensure they can operate practically and better in society.
- The House of Lords has rarely stopped secondary legislation in the past, but did when voting against cutting tax credits as part of the Tax Credits Regulations 2015 Act.
The Strathclyde Review
- The Strathclyde Review in 2015 reviewed the relationship between the House of Commons and House of Lords.
- The review recommended that the House of Lords should not be able to stop secondary legislation passing, but instead ask the House of Commons to rethink its proposal.
- The Strathclyde review called for a review into whether secondary legislation could only be passed through the House of Commons’ law-making process.
- These proposals have not been fully implemented, so conventions still apply.
Test yourself on Law-Making in the two Houses
What is 'ping-pong'?