How Parliament works and how to

get involved

19 November 2014#TalkParliament@UKParlOutreach

What is Parliament?

Monarch

House of Lords

House of Commons

The Monarch• A politically neutral role

• Signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal Assent)

• Opens Parliament each year

The Queen’s Speech

Link to transcript of Queens Speech 4 June 2014:https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/queens-speech-2014

• The democratically elected chamber of Parliament

• There are currently 650 MPs

• MPs are elected at least every five years

The House of Commons

• The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament, often known as the revising House

• There are 786 Members (as at October 2014):

• 679 Life Peers

• 85 Hereditary Peers

• 26 Bishops

The House of Lords

• Commons, Lords, Monarch• Holds Government to

account• Passes laws• Enables taxation• Represents public • Raises key issues

Parliament(Westminster)

• Some MPs and some Lords• Chosen by the Prime

Minister• Runs Government

departments and public services

• Accountable to Parliament

Government(Whitehall)

What does Parliament do?

Makes and passes laws:Legislation

Holds Government to account: Scrutiny

Raises key issues

Passage of a bill

Bill starting in the House of Commons

Bill starting in the House of Lords

House of Commons

1 2 C R 3

House of Commons

1 2 C R 3House of Lords

1 2 C R 3

House of Lords

1 2 C R 3

First re

ading

Second re

ading

Committee st

age

Report reading

Third re

ading

First re

ading

Second re

ading

Committee st

age

Report reading

Third re

ading

A

A

Considerat

ion of

amendments

Royal Assent

Royal Assent

Adjournment Debates / Questions for Short DebateDebates take place every day in the House of Commons and the House of Lords

Adjournment Debates

Oral Parliamentary Question

Chi Onwurah MP

What steps is the Minister for Culture and Digital Economy (Mr Edward Vaizey) taking to support people with a disability to get online.

Chi Onwurah: Last month the charity ‘Becoming Visible’ arranged for my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) and me to meet a group of profoundly deaf constituents. I was struck by how much they wanted to participate and engage and, in particular, to find jobs—but not to be paid less than the minimum wage—and also by how excluded they felt by the lack of British sign language accessibility for the web. I am sure that there is a technological solution. What technologies is the Minister examining that could help those with disabilities, especially the profoundly deaf, to get online?Mr Vaizey: I share the hon. Lady’s concern. I have been encouraging the use of what is known as the video relay system, which enables people to talk to a British sign language interpreter online. I have written to the top 100 FTSE companies, but very few have replied, and I intend to follow that up soon.One of the things that held the programme back was a costing of £100 million, which I considered fanciful. When BT installed the system, the costing was between £15,000 and £20,000. The system is very cheap, and companies should install it

Parliamentary QuestionsWritten or spoken questions asked by MPs and Lords, directed at Government

Parliamentary Questions

Debates

Lilian Greenwood MPhttp://

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131112/debtext/131112-0004.htm#1311135000002

Hearing Loss in Adulthood

Petitions Usually call on Government for some action regarding an issue, local or national. Presented to the House of Commons by your MP

Early Day MotionsA published statement which allows MPs to show their opinion on a particular subject. Other MPs can add their name to show their support

Other ways MPs raise issues

Petition

Mr Peter Bone MP

The Humble Petition of the residents of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and the surrounding areas,

“That the Petitioners believe that the proposed closure of Glamis Hall in Wellingborough is unacceptable because there are no other day care facilities for the elderly in Wellingborough; further that the Petitioners believe that for many of the 180 elderly people who attend the day centre it is their only opportunity to socialise, and provides an excellent service, including transport to/from the centre, bathing, podiatry and hair dressing services; and further that the Petitioners believe that it provides a social atmosphere for some of our most vulnerable people, as well as providing recreation bookings and sports changing rooms in the evenings and weekends.

Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges the Department for Communities and Local Government to encourage Northamptonshire County Council and the Borough Council of Wellingborough to work together to ensure Glamis Hall is kept open until the end of November 2015, while working with the community in the interim period to find a permanent solution which is satisfactory to all”

Petition

• Informal cross party groups on lots of different subjects e.g.

• Deafness• Youth Affairs• Asthma

• MPs and Lords form APPGs to build their knowledge of a particular area

• APPGs are a useful way to identify MPs/Peers with an interest in a certain cause

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs)

• Committees are set up to scrutinise specific areas of work and government departments

• Work carried out through inquiries

• Groups and individuals submit evidence

• Inquiry report created and passed to relevant government department

Select Committees

The Work and Pensions Committee hears from users of Access to Work and representative groups as part of its inquiry into employment support for disabled people.

Select Committees

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/news/access-to-work-second-evidence/

These group activities will explore ways of engaging with Parliament with:

• Parliamentary Questions• Adjournment Debates• Select Committees• Petitions/e-petitions

Group activities

• Contact your local MP or an MP with an interest in your issue

• Contact a Lord with an interest in your issue

• Engage with a Select Committee

Get involved

• Contact your local MP in first instance

• Identify and contact Parliamentarians with an interest

• Be clear on your aims

• Be positive, proactive and polite

General Advice

Where to get more informationwww.parliament.uk and @UKParliament

Commons Information Office• hcinfo@parliament.uk

Lords Information Office• hlinfo@parliament.uk

Parliament’s Outreach Service• outreach@parliament.uk

#TalkParliament@UKParlOutreach

www.parliament.uk

BDA and ParliamentWestminster

David BuxtonChief Executive

Deaf peoplecampaigning

• Government Bills – Broadcasting Bill: subtitle and sign language• Private Member Bills – Disability Bills, seven times failed for 20

years until government introduced the Bill in 1995• Early Day Motions – Access to Work, BSL, Deaf Children• Government E-Petitions - over 50,000 signed to stop deaf children

funding cuts led by NDCS• Parliamentary Questions – Access to Work, Hearing Aids,

Lipspeaking classes, Deaf Children provision• Meetings with Ministers – Ministers Disability Forum, delegations

(eg. Access to Work), Ministry of Justice group on deaf people• Meeting MPs and Peers – key spokespersons in the Commons

and Lords. All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness, local MPs surgeries, letters/petitions

• Lobbying Groups – UKCoD, BDA, NDCS, AoHL• Party Conferences – Labour, LibDems, Conservative, Green, SNP• Civil Servants – providing evidence, reports to the decision / policy

makers

Why we need a BSL Act?• The Government “recognised”

BSL as a language of its own right on 18th March 2003

• Many Deaf people thought “recognition” was the end of the fight – but it isn’t!

• Not legal recognition, just “respect” for our language!

• We do not want “respect” but legal status for BSL!

What about other laws?• Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish

languages were legally recognised by our Government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Why not BSL?

• Equality Act 2010 does not protect the rights of BSL users!

• Our Government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and yet it is failing to protect the human rights of Deaf people in the UK!

• Scottish Parliament – a BSL Bill is now introduced but it’s not a human right.

Working togetherSome of our campaign objectives are below:

• Collect evidence from a wide range of sources within the UK and abroad

• Develop an effective communication strategy – to inform and recruit more supporters and campaigners

• Increase participation from deaf people, individual supporters and allies

• Raise awareness to gain public support

• Canvass MPs, MEPs and peers – to monitor their attitude to the campaign & their level of awareness of Deaf issues

• Test / law cases