How Effective Is Parliament At Controlling And Influencing The Actions Of The Government?

Private members bills and the backbench business committee have given Parliament more power over the agenda of votes and legislature. Private members bill have given the House of Commons the ability to influence legislation. These bills have been responsible for important legislation such as the removal of the death penalty and the legalisation of abortion. This system has been criticised however because it is given very little time in the government dominated schedule and a bill is unlikely to pass if the government opposes it. The backbench business committee has allowed issues to be debated outside of a party political context such as whether prisoners should be given the vote. It is given 35 days of Parliaments agenda however some again criticise that this is too little power. The ability for Parliament both through PMBs and the backbench business committee to pass through independent legislation is important in influencing the government.

The House of Lords also possesses a strong influence over the government’s actions. They have to scrutinise any bill that is to be passed. They have the power to delay legislation for up to a year and usually the government takes this into due account and it can heavily influence their actions. As the Lords is filled with experts and crossbenchers it also gives its scrutiny a more respected and unbiased weight to it.  However the Lords power is limited as it can’t reject budget bills, has to pass all manifesto promises and is generally seen as the inferior, less legitimate house. The House of Lords plays a great role in Parliament as an important scrutiniser of government actions and is also one of the largest bodies to do so independent of their influence as its members are life peers and not looking for personal gain but real and thorough debate on legislation.

Question time allows MPs to scrutinise the government. It allows MPs to question both the PM and ministers regularly. However it has been criticised, particularly in the case of PMQs, as political theatre rather than a true forum for debate. Some of the questions are ‘setups’ and much of the time is dedicated to the opposition who engage in cyclical questioning with answers that lack true political depth. It does however expose weak leadership and debating skills within the government. Question time allows a high profile forum for debate that can pressure the government on a political scale but also on a public scale as it is the most publicised action in Parliament with it being televised and open to spectators.

Committees play a great role in influencing the government. Select committees provide a forum for debate outside of a party political basis which provides more unbiased scrutiny of the government on top of this their permanent members give a great weight to a committees decision as they have a great deal of expertise on subjects. Their reports require an official response from the government within eight weeks holding them responsible and accountable to these reports however they only have to be replied to and not implemented. Their ability to come up with their own ideas for the government also gives them more influence over the government’s actions. They have the power to both publicise the government’s actions and shame them into changing these actions, for example Andrew Lansley was forced to change his policy on NHS reform after a very critical response from the Health Select Committee. Two important Committees also exist which exert even greater influence over the government. The first is the Liaison Committee which the PM has to meet once every few months for questioning on a greater depth than PMQs with the chairmen of all the other committees being present to do so. The Public Accounts Committee also possesses significant power as it can investigate into anywhere that public money is being spent. Committees do possess great power however it is limited by a number of factors. Committees are poorly funded and have limited attendance. They also have a majority of government members preventing too intense scrutiny. Committees play a great role behind the scenes of party politics in independently and thoroughly scrutinising government actions.

In conclusion the government’s actions are influenced by intense scrutiny of their peers within Parliament however the balance of power between both the government and Parliament is fine as both use all options at their disposal to influence the other. At first sight it may seem as if the government’s use of the whipping system undermines any Parliament influence however Parliament can exert much less obvious pressures in the form of the House of Lords, PMBs and the backbench business committee, question time and committees. I think the most important of these is House of Lords as it is almost completely independent of government authority and is complicit with many experts and committees as they can independently scrutinise the government to a much deeper level than other methods in Parliament and charge the government with a response to their findings.