Another way in which Parliament carries out its scrutinising role is through the use of select committees, the job of these committees is to monitor the work of government departments, such as education, defence, health etc. They investigate issues surrounding their department and compile findings and highlighting any failings within a certain department. These committees are cross-party and play an important part in assuring that each department is running at a constantly high level.
A third way in which Parliament carries out its scrutinising role is through opposition days, which belong to the opposition, they normally reserve these days until they have an opportunity to raise an issue which may cause embarrassment to the government. The number of opposition days are limited and they must give notice of their intention to use such a day, poor use of such days may backfire and weaken their own position.
Opposition days and Question Time may not be seen as effective ways to scrutinise as certain members of Parliament may use such events as a ‘points scoring’ exercise to try and embarrass each other.
c) Has the UK Parliament become an irrelevant institution?
Parliament is the legislative branch of the political system in the United Kingdom; it is composed of three main parts, The House of Commons, The House of Lords and the monarch. Some people now believe the UK parliament is an irrelevant institution.
One reason it is seen as an irrelevant institution is due to inequality in representation. As the Westminster electoral system is majoritarian it tends to result in single party majority hold in the House of Commons and thus a single party government. This means that smaller political parties are under represented despite gaining more votes in recent years; an example of such a party is the Liberal Democrats who have won more votes in each election yet due to the electoral system find themselves with fewer seats than they merit. Certain groups of people are also under represented in Parliament such as women and ethnic minorities. IT is difficult to view the UK Parliament as a relevant institution its practice is undemocratic.
Another reason why Parliament is seen to have become an irrelevant institution is due to the fact that the House of Lords is a subordinate chamber, so that whichever party controls the Commons controls Parliament. The result of this is ‘elective dictatorship’ in which the prime minister and their government can in effect do anything they like until the next general election, thus branding Parliament as irrelevant.
The view that Parliament has become an irrelevant institution is challenged and some people disagree with this view.
Such people would argue that Parliament can influence government and government policy in a number of ways. They argue that Parliament broadly reflects the nation and takes into account those who feel under-represented in Parliament as shown by the passing of the race relations legislation in the 1960 and 1970’s. This shows that Parliament is always looking to improve society and make the country more equal so that everyone is treated equally under the government.
It can also be argued that The Lords beats the government more regularly than does the Commons and governments often have to conciliate an upper chamber in which they do not have majority control. This view suggests that although Parliament may not be a policy-making legislature, it retains a strong policy-influencing role.
In conclusion I believe that although Parliament has become an irrelevant institution to a degree I don’t believe it has become fully irrelevant. Parliament is always looking to improve and change it’s practices to reflect and suit the current day although due to the loss of certain powers and undemocratic practice this has become increasingly difficult.