Parliamentary scrutiny and committees - key concepts

The concepts

• Liaison committee (tap to reveal) - A committee of all select committee chairs that can call the Prime Minister to answer questions.
• Pre-legislative scrutiny (tap to reveal) - When Parliament looks at a proposed law in draft form, before the government officially introduces it. Can improve laws before they are formally debated.Use it: Use in questions about legislative effectiveness and parliamentary reform. The inconsistency of pre-legislative scrutiny is a significant gap: it is not systematically required and governments often bypass it for political reasons.
• Scrutiny function (tap to reveal) - Parliament's job of checking, questioning and challenging what the government does.
• Draft bill (tap to reveal) - An early version of a new law published for public feedback and parliamentary review before it officially goes through Parliament.
• Henry VIII clause (tap to reveal) - A clause in a law that gives ministers the power to change other laws without going through the full parliamentary process, which critics say undermines Parliament.
• Legislative function (tap to reveal) - The job of a parliament or congress of debating, amending and passing laws.
• Programme motion (tap to reveal) - The government sets a timetable for how long Parliament can discuss each part of a new law. This limits debate and means some parts of bills are never properly scrutinised.Use it: Use as evidence of executive dominance over the legislative process. Shows that governments control not just what Parliament debates but how long it debates each clause.
• Responsible government (tap to reveal) - The idea that government must answer to Parliament and can be removed if it loses its confidence.
• Guillotine (parliamentary procedure) (tap to reveal) - A parliamentary procedure that cuts short debate on a bill by imposing a strict timetable, stopping MPs from talking it out indefinitely.
• Parliamentary government (tap to reveal) - A system where the government comes from Parliament and can be removed by it. The UK's system.
• Parliamentary privilege (tap to reveal) - The right of MPs and Lords to speak freely in Parliament without fear of being sued for what they say there.
• Public bill committees (tap to reveal) - Groups of MPs that examine proposed legislation in detail and suggest amendments before it progresses further.
• Select committees (tap to reveal) - Cross-party groups of MPs that scrutinise the work of specific government departments and publish findings and recommendations.
• Accountability (tap to reveal) - Being answerable for decisions and actions to those affected by them.
• Backbench Business Committee (tap to reveal) - A committee that gives backbench MPs control over some parliamentary time - about 35 days per year. Before 2010, the government controlled nearly all parliamentary time.Use it: Use as a key example of the Wright reforms in action. Shows that Parliament has taken some control of its own time away from the executive. Critical for questions about parliamentary reform and backbench power.
• Crossbencher (tap to reveal) - An unaffiliated member of the Lords who votes on their own judgement, not a party line.
• Crown in Parliament (tap to reveal) - The idea that sovereignty belongs to Parliament as a whole - King, Commons and Lords together.
• English Votes for English Laws (tap to reveal) - A 2015 rule giving English MPs a veto on England-only laws. Abolished in 2021 as too complicated.