Themes

Making better law

Acts of Parliament in the Parliamentary Archives, Houses of Parliament, Westminster. (© UK Parliament / Parliamentary Archives)

The process for making and scrutinising legislation at Westminster is often unsatisfactory and poorly understood. How does the process work? Who influences it? And how could it be improved?

Blog / How should Parliament handle the Seventh Carbon Budget - and why does it matter?

The Climate Change Act 2008 established a framework for setting carbon budgets every five years. But the role of Parliament in approving these budgets has been widely criticised, including by the Prime Minister. The Environmental Audit Committee has proposed improvements in the scrutiny process to ensure effective climate action, particularly in the context of the UK’s commitment to achieving 'Net Zero' emissions by 2050. These reforms will significantly alter the way Parliament handles the Seventh Carbon Budget in 2025.

18 Apr 2024
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News / William Wragg's honeytrap crisis, and is Speaker Hoyle under threat? - Parliament Matters podcast, episode 29 transcript

This week the team discuss William Wragg’s fall from grace following a ‘honeytrap sting’; the future of Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle; the sanctions available to punish former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells if she has misled MPs; whether Jeffrey Donaldson MP will attend Westminster now he has been charged with criminal offences; and why there has been a 39% reduction in the number of All Party Parliamentary Groups following chnages to the registration rules.

12 Apr 2024
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News / Tobacco and Vapes Bill: free vote blows smoke in Rishi Sunak's eyes - Parliament Matters podcast, episode 30 transcript

This week the team discuss the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and the fallout from the Second Reading free vote for Conservative MPs. It's still parliamentary ping-pong on the Rwanda Bill: but what is 'double insistence'? A former Labour adviser has suggested that if the party wins the general election Ministers should make extensive use of delegated powers already on the statute book to push their policy agenda through at speed with minimal parliamentary scrutiny. But what are the risks? And we talk to former Foreign Secretary Lord David Owen about the diplomatic dialogue that lay behind his question this week to his successor Lord Cameron.

12 Apr 2024
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Guides / The Parliament Act 1911: A procedural guide

The Parliament Act 1911 is one of the UK's most important constitutional laws. It removed the veto of the House of Lords over legislation (subject to certain conditions) and has been central ever since to the centuries-old debate about the proper role of the House of Lords in our democratic system.

24 Mar 2024
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Briefings / The Criminal Justice Bill: Concerns about the delegated powers

Ahead of the Criminal Justice Bill’s Committee stage in the House of Commons, this briefing paper focuses on three clauses in the Bill that contain delegated powers that are of particular concern and that highlight different aspects of the problems with the system of delegated powers.

11 Dec 2023
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Guides / What is the King’s Speech?

06 Nov 2023
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Projects / Delegated Legislation Review

02 Nov 2021
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Blog / Ping-pong and packaging

13 Feb 2021
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Publications / A New Normal? Parliament after Brexit

09 Mar 2020
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Guides / What is a Ballot Bill?

13 Dec 2019
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Guides / What is a Presentation Bill?

13 Dec 2019
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Blog / Whose House Is It Anyway?

12 Oct 2017