COMPARE THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN TWO POLITICAL SYSTEMS YOU HAVE STUDIED INTRO

• In this we are looking at where laws start, and how they progress through the different chambers in Scotland and Westminster, and where governments and representatives, as well as members of the public can have influence over them. BRIEFLY

• Broadly we can say that in both Scotland and Westminster, most laws are directed by government, as government tends to dominate the parliamentary timetables of the two systems. • Try and explain this a bit. • Also, in both systems, the greatest level of scrutiny takes place in committees. WESTMINSTER – WHO CAN PROPOSE A BILL?

• The Executive – the vast majority of legislation is proposed by the executive. The main measures the government wishes to push through each year will be proposed in the Queen’s Speech at the beginning of the parliamentary year. • MPs WESTMINSTER

White Paper/Green paper- proposal to parliament First Reading debate – basic principles read to parliament – no discussion, just a vote on whether to continue Second Reading Debate – MPs have the opportunity to debate the bill – then another vote on whether to continue Committee stage – public bill committee is set up ad hoc, on the basis of need, to discuss the specific law in detail. They go through the law line by line, and debate each point. Because it is not in front of the whole parliament, it tends to be less dominated by the whip, and there’s less showing off. Third Reading – another debate in the whole house – followed by a vote Sent to the Lords (if it is not a money bill) – where it goes through the same process SCOTLAND – WHO CAN INTRODUCE A BILL?

• Member of the Executive • MSP ( a member is allowed to propose 2 bills in every session, though in practice a lot of them do not do this mansy) • Parliamentary committee • Private citizens SCOTLAND

• Stage 1 - A government or Member’s bill is first sent to committee for inquiry, so this front loads the scrutiny at the early stage of the bill, before it even gets in to be discussed in Parliament. This is to help make up for the fact that the Scottish Parliament is unicameral, and so does not have the House of Lords as a revising chamber to go over the bill with a fine tooth comb. After this first Committee Stage, the bill is debated in a full sitting in Parliament, and the general principles are voted on. There has to be a minimum of 12 sitting days (days when parliament is at work) between stages 1 and 2 (to allow time to think about things) • Stage 2 – this is where detailed consideration takes place in committee. Remember that committees in the Scottish Parliament mix the features of Select Committees and Public Bill Committees in Westminster, so they are permanent and they deal with the bills that are proposed in their specific specialist area. During stage 2, significant amendments can be made to the bill. (there has to be a minimum of 10 sitting days between stages 2 and 3) • Stage 3. During this stage, parliament again debates and can make amendments to the bill. There is then a full debate on passing the bill, and a vote – at this point the bill can either progress or fail and be kicked out altogether. • After Stage 3 the bill can be signed into law with the Royal Assent (same as in Westminster PETITIONS COMMITTEE

• Both parliaments now have petitions committees, this means that members of the public can propose issues that they would like to see legislation on • Scotland started this, and this is where the legislation on the smoking ban originally came from. • The Westminster Parliament took it on in 2010, but in Westminster it is only for people to propose ideas to be debated, rather than laws to be passed. POINTS OF COMPARISON

• All of these things are point you would make in other essays in this topic, that you could fit in here too, to compare the legislative process • Strength of the executive in the two systems – fusing the executive and the legislature. Control of the parliamentary timetable by the executive, so less time for private members bills to be proposed. • The strength of committees • The whip system in the two parliaments ROYAL ASSENT

• Both parliaments require the Royal Assent for a bill to become law CONCLUSIONS

• Remember to make evaluative statements about the legislative process in both systems consistently throughout.