E-Petitions: a Collaborative System 1
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Report of the Select Committee on the Reduction of Standing Committees of Tynwald
REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE REDUCTION OF STANDING COMMITTEES OF TYNWALD t i I. • REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE REDUCTION OF STANDING COMMITTEES OF TYNWALD To the Honourable Noel Q Cringle, President of Tynwald, and the Honourable Members of the Council and Keys in Tynwald assembled PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Background At the sitting of Tynwald Court on 21st May 2002 it was resolved that a Select Committee of five members be established to - "investigate and report by no later than July 2003 on the feasibility of reducing the number of Standing Committees of Tynwald along with any recommendations as to the responsibilities and membership and any proposals for change." 2. Mr Karran, Mr Lowey, Mr Quayle, Mr Quine and Mr Speaker were elected. At 4, the first meeting Mr Speaker was unanimously elected as Chairman. 3. The Committee has held four meetings. C/RSC/02/plb PART 2 STRATEGY 2.1 The Committees of Tynwald that would be examined were determined as: Committee on Constitutional Matters; Committee on the Declaration of Members' Interests, Ecclesiastical Committee; Committee on Economic Initiatives; Joint Committee on the Emoluments of Certain Public Servants; Committee on Expenditure and Public Accounts; Tynwald Ceremony Arrangements Committee; Tynwald Honours Committee; Tynwald Management Committee; Tynwald Members' Pension Scheme Management Committee; and Tynwald Standing Orders Committee of Tynwald. A brief summary of the membership and terms of reference of each standing committee is attached as Appendix 1. 2 C/RSC/02/plb 2.2 In order to facilitate its investigation your Committee also decided that - (a) Comparative information on committee structures in adjacent parliaments should be obtained. -
Liaison Committee
Liaison Committee House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Tel: 020 7219 5675 Email: [email protected] Website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/103/liaison-committee-commons From Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Chair Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP Leader of the House House of Commons London SW1A 0AA 17 February 2021 Dear Jacob, In anticipation of the announcement of the end of the current Parliamentary Session, I am writing on behalf of Select Committee Chairs to highlight a number of pieces of legislation which are awaiting time in the Government’s legislative programme. The Government’s legislative programme has been understandably impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but there are a number of outstanding proposals which Committees are keen to see brought forward or where further action or information is required: • Passing the Environment Bill should be a Government priority, given the gap that now exists in environmental governance following the end of the transition period. Provisions in the Bill respond to recommendations the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee have made across a range of inquiries in recent years. Both Committees conducted pre-legislative scrutiny of the first part of the Bill in 2019 and have continued to monitor its progress during the current Session. • The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee have also conducted pre-legislative scrutiny on the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, which increases sentences for some animal cruelty offences. This Bill will implement recommendations from the Committee dating back to 2016. The Committee completed pre-legislative scrutiny on the relevant provisions in 2018 but the Bill has yet to complete passage through the House. -
United Kingdom House of Commons Received on 7 Jan 2020
Written evidence from UK House of Commons on its petitioning system Background I am pleased to contribute to the Standing Committee’s inquiry into its environment and petitions functions. This evidence covers the traditional public (paper) petitioning system and the e-petitioning system which has been operated jointly by the UK Government and House of Commons since 2015 and is overseen by the House of Commons Petitions Committee. Public petitions Paper Petitions - History The right of the subject to petition the Monarch for redress of personal grievances has a long history, having been recognised in the Magna Carta and restated in the Bill of Rights 1689. The first known petitions to the Lords and to both Houses of Parliament date from the reign of Richard II (1377 to 1399) but the practice seems to have become more widespread from the reign of Henry IV (1399 to 1413) onwards. During the 16th and early parts of the 17th centuries, petitions relating to issues of public policy became increasingly popular. As petitions during this time were taken before the start of debates, they were often used as a way of obstructing business. A Select Committee in 1832 was established to tackle this problem and the House agreed to introduce more stringent rules via standing orders. In 1912-13 there were 10,221 petitions presented, this however fell dramatically in 1919 to 121. In 1939-40 only one petition was presented to the House. In more recent times, the 2016-17 session saw 328 petitions presented, of which 296 were formally presented on the floor of the House of Commons. -
Programme for Committee Clerks of the Parliament of Guyana
0 1021CBP/GUYANA15 CPA UK & Parliament of Guyana Capacity Building Programme Activity 1: Programme for Committee Clerks of the Parliament of Guyana 16-19 November 2015, Houses of Parliament, London Report 1 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 2. AIM & OBJECTIVES 3 3. FACILITATORS AND DELEGATION 3 4. PROGRAMME DETAILS 4 5. PROGRAMME COMMENTS 7 WIDENING THE SCOPE AND IMPACT OF COMMITTEE INQUIRIES 7 LIAISON COMMITTEE 8 THE RESPECT POLICY 8 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH 9 SECURITY SENSITIVE COMMITTEES 9 MINUTES, BRIEFS AND REPORTS 10 RESEARCH 11 6. PROGRAMME BUDGET 12 7. OUTCOMES AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES 12 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 13 9. ABOUT CPA UK 13 ANNEX A. PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES 14 B. SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES 16 1 2 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.01 In October 2015, CPA UK and the Parliament of Guyana embarked on a seven-month Capacity Building Programme jointly funded by CPA UK and the British High Commission, Georgetown. The aims of the wider programme are to: • Enhance the Assembly’s ability to conduct its business effectively • Work with the Assembly’s parliamentary committees to enhance their oversight capacity • Work with the Parliamentary Leadership, to strengthen its administrative, financial, and procedural independence • Work with parliamentary officials to support the functioning of the Assembly • Address the challenges of maintaining a successful coalition government • Support the interaction between UK, Guyanese and Caribbean Parliamentarians to discuss issues of regional interest; sustainability, energy and development 1.2 The first agreed activity of the Capacity Building Programme was a Workshop for Committee Clerks of the Parliament of Guyana based in Westminster. 1.3 The Programme involved two Committee Clerks and four Assistant Committee Clerks. -
Parliamentary Committees
18 Parliamentary committees The principal purpose of parliamentary committees is to perform functions which the Houses themselves are not well fitted to perform, that is, finding out the facts of a case or issue, examining witnesses, sifting evidence, and drawing up reasoned conclusions. Because of their composition and method of procedure, which is structured but generally informal compared with the Houses, committees are well suited to the gathering of evidence from expert groups or individuals. In a sense they ‘take Parliament to the people’ and allow direct contact between members of the public by representative groups of Members of the House. Not only do committee inquiries enable Members to be better informed about community views but in simply undertaking an inquiry committees may promote public debate on the subject at issue. The all-party composition of most committees and their propensity to operate across party lines are important features. This bipartisan approach generally manifests itself throughout the conduct of inquiries and the drawing up of conclusions. Committees oversight and scrutinise the Executive and are able to contribute towards a better informed administration and government policy-making process. In respect of their formal proceedings committees are microcosms and extensions of the Houses themselves, limited in their power of inquiry by the extent of the authority delegated to them and governed for the most part in their proceedings by procedures and practice which reflect those which prevail in the House by which they were appointed.1 AUTHORITY FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES The power of the House to appoint committees is not in doubt but the source of this power, particularly in regard to investigatory committees, cannot be stated precisely. -
Engagement, Education & Outreach Handbook for Commonwealth Parliaments
COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATION & OUTREACH HANDBOOK FOR COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS CREATING OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT INSTITUTIONS About the CPA The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) connects, develops, promotes and supports parliamentarians and their staff to identify benchmarks of good governance and the implementation of the enduring values of the Commonwealth. The CPA collaborates with parliaments and other organisations, including the intergovernmental community, to achieve its statement of purpose. It brings parliamentarians and parliamentary staff together to exchange ideas among themselves and with experts in various fields, to identify benchmarks of good practices and new policy options they can adopt or adapt in the governance of their societies. Find out more via our website at www.cpahq.org About the authors This Handbook was written by Holly Greenland and Annie McCall with editorial support from Matthew Salik and James Pinnell. Acknowledgements The CPA Headquarters Secretariat extends its thanks to the CPA Branches across the Commonwealth who took the time to respond to the survey which fed into this Handbook. A special thanks goes to the UK Parliament for allowing its resources to be reproduced for the purposes of the Handbook. © Commonwealth Parliamentary Association 2021 All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording or otherwise provided it is used only for educational purposes and is not for resale, and provided full acknowledgement is given to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association as the original publisher. Rights are not extended for the reproduction of any photography or design not owned by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association as contained in this publication. -
The House of Commons Modernisation Committee: Who Needs It?
The House of Commons Modernisation Committee: Who Needs It? British Journal of Politics and International Relation (2007), vol.9, no.1, pp.138-157. Alexandra Kelso Department of Politics and International Relations, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. [email protected] Abstract Modernisation has been rhetorically important for the Labour government since 1997, and it found a dedicated outlet through the House of Commons Modernisation Committee. This committee has pursued a particular type of modernisation, which this article seeks to explore. It does this by focusing on three issues. First, it examines the role of the Leader of the House of Commons in the chair of the Modernisation Committee. Second, it looks at the work of the Modernisation Committee in comparison to that of the Procedure Committee. Finally, it contextualises the discussion of modernisation with reference to the distinction between efficiency reforms and effectiveness reforms, and explores what this reveals about the complexity of executive–legislative relations at Westminster, and about the course of the modernisation debate since 1997. Introduction New Labour came to power in 1997 committed to a modernising agenda informed by its adherence to the so-called Third Way, and its promise of renewing social democracy (Giddens 1998 and 2000; Clift 2001). The discourse of the Third Way signified a ‘reconfiguration of relationships between economy and state, public and private, government and people’, in which ‘modernisation was a label attached to a wide-range of institutional reforms, including those of government, party and the political process itself’ (Newman 2001, 40). -
Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments 2019
Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments 2019 UK SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES PARLIAMENTARIANS PROGRAMME SESSION 2: DIVERSITY WITHIN PARLIAMENT BARONESS LIZ BARKER MONDAY 25 NOVEMBER Baroness Barker has been a Liberal Democrat Peer since 1999. She has been a spokesperson on pensions and health, charities and social en- SESSION 1: EFFECTIVE PARLIAMENTS AND OUR ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES terprise, and LGBT rights. She is Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBTI Rights, HIV/AIDS, APPG on Sexual and Reproductive Health. She is a member of APPGs on Nigeria and India. A supporter of Open for Business, Liz is the CEO of ThirdSectorBusiness, a consultancy DAME MARGARET HODGE which specialises in charities and social enterprise. She advises parliamen- tarians, companies and NGOs around the world on how to work together to Margaret became the Labour Member of Parliament for Barking in June accelerate change. Justice for minorities, equality for women and girls, and 1994. She has served in government, holding portfolios across education, respect for older people are the themes which recur through Liz’s work. She work and pensions, business and culture. In 2010, Margaret also became is currently leading work in parliament on trans, non-binary and intersex le- the first elected Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and was also its gal recognition and celebrating equality developments in Northern Ireland. first female Chair. Today, Margaret is the Chair of the APPG on Responsible Tax, as well as the Chair for organisations in the arts and higher education. PIPPA PATTERSON Pippa Patterson is the Clerk of the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Com- mittee, which scrutinises the UK Government’s approach to EU policy on immigration, asylum, police and security cooperation, healthcare, sport and PROFESSOR PHILIP NORTON education. -
The Scrutiny Unit: a Guide to Its Work the Scrutiny Unit: a Guide to Its Work the Scrutiny Unit: a Guide to Its Work
The Scrutiny Unit: A guide to its work The Scrutiny Unit: A guide to its work The Scrutiny Unit: A guide to its work What is the Scrutiny Unit? What did the Unit do in 2008? What do people say about the Unit? The Unit exists to provide specialist help to select Examples of our recent work include: Several select committees have commented on the committees in the scrutiny of the Government’s assistance they have received from the Unit in the past financial and performance reporting and of draft bills. It • Supported pre‐legislative scrutiny by joint year. For instance, the Transport Committee has noted also carries out other work for select committees as committees of both Houses of the draft that it received “a great deal of support from the resources permit. The Unit also supports the evidence‐ Marine Bill and draft Constitutional Renewal Committee Office Scrutiny Unit, which provided us with taking work of Public Bill Committees. Bill significant help with our inquiries” and the Justice Committee refers to the “invaluable help” of the Unit Why is there a Scrutiny Unit? • Supported evidence‐taking by 12 Public Bill and its staff. Committees, including those on the Banking In its 1993 Commission on the legislative process, the Bill and the Counter‐Terrorism Bill The Liaison Committee, made up of the Chairmen of all Hansard Society wrote that “Parliament could play a the select committees, wrote in its most recent annual greater part by pre‐legislative inquiry in the preparation • Provided analysis of Estimates and report that the Unit had “added particular value to the of legislation”. -
Parallel Chambers
PARALLEL CHAMBERS Memorandum from Sir David Natzler KCB, Clerk of the House of Commons, to The House of Commons (Canada) Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs This memorandum will primarily focus on Westminster Hall, the parallel Chamber in the House of Commons, which has been in operation since 1999. Some reference to the operation of Grand Committees will also be included towards the end of the memorandum. WESTMINSTER HALL Overview 1. During the 1998-99 parliamentary session, the House of Commons Modernisation Committee published two reports regarding proposals for a parallel Chamber. Taking inspiration from procedures used in the House of Representatives, Canberra, where certain business was conducted in a parallel (albeit subordinate) Chamber, the first of these reports indicated some of the issues which would need to be addressed if a parallel Chamber were to be introduced, the impact it might have on the House of Commons, as well as some proposals for how it might work practically. The report was agreed to by the House, and the Committee embarked upon a second report to take the proposals forward. 2. The second of these reports, published later that session, reiterated the arguments for a parallel Chamber and outlined proposals for procedure relating to chairing the sittings, sitting hours, and types of Business to be taken, as well as procedure during the meetings themselves. The Report was approved by the House on 24 May 1999. 3. Since the beginning of the 1999-2000 Session, parallel sittings have been held in Westminster Hall and have provided the House of Commons with an additional forum for debate which has created more parliamentary time without increasing sitting hours. -
Review of Investigative and Scrutiny Committees: Strengthening the Thematic Structure Through the Appointment of New Committees
HOUSE OF LORDS Liaison Committee 5th Report of Session 2019–21 Review of investigative and scrutiny committees: strengthening the thematic structure through the appointment of new committees Ordered to be printed 10 December 2020 and published 15 December 2020 Published by the Authority of the House of Lords HL Paper 193 Liaison Committee The Liaison Committee advises the House on the resources required for select committee work and allocates resources between select committees; reviews the select committee work of the House; considers requests for ad hoc committees and reports to the House with recommendations; ensures effective co-ordination between the two Houses; and considers the availability of Lords to serve on committees. Membership The Members of the Liaison Committee are: Lord Bradley Lord Low of Dalston Lord Davies of Oldham Lord McFall of Alcluith (Chair) Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Lord Smith of Hindhead Earl Howe Lord Tyler Lord Judge Baroness Walmsley Lord Lang of Monkton Declaration of interests See Appendix 1. A full list of Members’ interests can be found in the Register of Lords’ Interests: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-interests/register-of-lords- interests Publications All publications of the Committee are available at: http://www.parliament.uk/lords-liaison Parliament Live Live coverage of debates and public sessions of the Committee’s meetings are available at: http://www.parliamentlive.tv Further information Further information about the House of Lords and its Committees, including guidance to witnesses, details of current inquiries and forthcoming meetings is available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/lords Committee staff The staff who worked on this inquiry were Philippa Tudor (Clerk), Lucy Molloy (Research Assistant) and Heather Fuller (Committee Assistant). -
Process Matters: Petitions Systems in Britain's
Process Matters: Petitions Systems in Britain’s Legislatures Catherine Bochel Reader in Policy Studies School of Social & Political Sciences University of Lincoln Brayford Pool Lincoln LN6 7TS Tel: 01522 886324 Email: [email protected] Acknowledgements This work was supported by the British Academy under Grant SG101961. I am grateful for the comments of the anonymous reviewers. 1 Abstract Over the past fifteen years petitions systems have become embedded in the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, and more recently the House of Commons. This article uses the concept of procedural justice, with its emphasis on the fairness of the process by which decisions are made, as an analytical tool to explore four case studies of petitions systems in British legislatures, considering, in particular, the extent to which they enable voice, decision making and transparency. It illustrates that the application of ideas of procedural justice not only provides us with a useful tool for analysing petitions systems in representative political institutions, but also potentially provides a framework of ideas from which petitions systems, and perhaps other participatory initiatives, may learn. Keywords Legislatures, participation, petitions systems, procedural justice, transparency, voice. 2 Introduction Notions of procedural justice, with its focus on fairness of process, have been used in a variety of fields, including psychology, law and business. This article applies procedural justice as an analytical tool to study a number of petitions systems in legislative bodies in the United Kingdom. The Wright Committee (House of Commons Reform Committee, 2009) and the subsequent inquiry into the impact of the Wright reforms (House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, 2013) highlighted the need for greater public engagement with Parliament, with the Wright Committee (p.