In the House of Lords, there are more than 10 Lords a Leaping

If you have ever attended a tour of the Houses of Parliament, you will become very well-informed about the history of the incredible building known as the Palace of Westminster. The palace is divided into two houses - the House of Commons where the elected MPs sit/meet and the House of Lords where obviously the Lords reside.

The tours that are conducted by very knowledgable guides and sometimes, MPs, are educational and extremely informative, not only providing a snapshot of the political system and how the two Houses work - the tour also serves as an incredible history lesson.

Who are the Lords?

In the 14th century, the Lords Temporal attended the House of Lords (HOL) on an almost entirely hereditary basis. ‘Peers’, as they became known, were accountable to each other and divided into five ranks: duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. For centuries, in order to take a seat in the HOL, one needed to be a Peer with a title which had been inherited and passed on to the first son and heir. This means that the Lords were, historically, from the same families. However, in 1999, the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right of most hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House. During the passage of the legislation an amendment was accepted, enabling 92 hereditary peers to remain until further reform is proposed.

So what do the Lords actually do?

For those of you that have consulted on a “Consultation” ,you will know that the Lords are involved in the formation of legislation, spending more than half their time in the House considering bills (draft laws). All bills have to be considered by both Houses before they can become law.  In 2016-17, the Lords spent 141 days checking draft laws (bills), questioning and debating government action and investigating public policy. Their objective is to challenge, complement and hold the Government and the House of Commons to account.

For example, Private members’ bills are draft laws proposed by individual members of the House of Lords rather than the government. At the start of each session of Parliament, a ballot is held to allocate the order in which private members’ bills will be introduced in the Lords.

The ballot for this session was held on Friday 20 December, the day following State Opening. Bills were drawn by students of St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy in Blackburn who were visiting Parliament. The ballot was drawn for the first time by students in the Education Centre.

For those interested in the regulation of the property sector, the working group - ROPA - was chaired by Lord Best. Whilst there is currently no statutory regulation of the private sector in England, the ROPA report provided an outline of what possible regulation will look like.

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