Last September, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg did get a bit of electoral reform when hereditary peers in the House of Lords, after delaying action twice, agreed to pass the Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011. The BBC reported:
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill finally cleared the House of Lords when
peers, who had twice blocked the plan, accepted a compromise proposal.
They wanted the law to be renewed after each election but ministers said that meant allowing fixed terms to be switched on "like a light switch".
Peers voted by 188 to 173 to accept a plan for a review in 2020.
Parliaments are currently limited to a maximum of five years, but the prime minister is free to call a general election at any time.
The government has argued that fixed terms would eliminate the power of the executive to call elections when it was politically convenient - but their choice of a five-year, rather than a four-year term drew criticismAnd some peers had argued that the coalition did not have a mandate to "bind" future parliaments.
They put forward plans that would in effect have required each new parliament to decide whether it wanted a fixed term.
Peers had twice backed a "sunset" provision that would have given both the Commons and the Lords the chance to choose whether to renew the legislation after each general election
.
Crossbench peer Lord Butler urged peers to stand firm and said the government's offer, to set up a review in 2020, was an "insult". And fellow crossbencher Lord Pannick said: "The proposal is not so much kicking the issue into the long grass as burying it in a time capsule."
But peers voted, by a majority of just 15, to back the government.
Advocate General Lord Wallace said any future government could choose to repeal the fixed-term legislation - but that would be the "subject of full parliamentary scrutiny as this Bill has been".
"By contrast the sunset amendments would switch fixed terms on and off like a light switch. Parliaments would default to non-fixed terms if a simple resolution fails to be tabled or if the two houses cannot agree on the matter."
The bill will now be sent for Royal Assent. (to become law)
Under the bill an election could still be triggered before the end of a five-year term if a motion of no confidence was passed in the government and no alternative administration could be formed, or if at least two-thirds of MPs approved calls for an early election.
The process of how a bill becomes a law in the UK can be seen here by the bill's flow:
Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011
So by the Act, now instead of waiting for the PM to call an election date within 5 years, the 2015 UK election date is set for 7 May 2015.
_____________________
Also more on Quango's (thanks to apgov.org)
Quasi means kinda-sorta
Autonomous means self-governing
NGOs are Non Governmental Organizations
A hypothetical example of a QuANGO
It's a good thing for the British economy if people purchase British wool. Instead of the government taking on this job and making already large bureaucracies even larger, they allocate some money and staff to create a Wool Development Council.
It's kind of like outsourcing bureaucratic work.
The Wool Development Council partnerships with local wool producers who are more than happy to help influence how the government's money is spent on promoting their industry.
This council doesn't report the Agriculture Ministry and likely makes rules about wool regulation, licensing of sheep, and maybe even creates an advertising campaign to make woolen goods the quintessential tourist purchase when people visit England.
QuANGOs have been popular because they can "punt" responsibility down to others and aren't accountable for poor decisions. On the opposite side of the coin, people don't like them because their heads aren't elected and so they have little accountability.
In 2010 the British Government said it had earmarked (chosen) nearly 200 quangos for closure, and 120 more for merging. In August 2012, the government said that 106 quangos had lost their public status since then. Some were axed, some were sold off, and some had their work done elsewhere.
According to Wikipedia, in the year 2006-07, tax payers funded 1,162 QuANGOs at a cost of nearly £64bn; equivalent to £2,550 per household.
If you're still confused, let the BBC try to explain it to you.
They wanted the law to be renewed after each election but ministers said that meant allowing fixed terms to be switched on "like a light switch".
Peers voted by 188 to 173 to accept a plan for a review in 2020.
Parliaments are currently limited to a maximum of five years, but the prime minister is free to call a general election at any time.
The government has argued that fixed terms would eliminate the power of the executive to call elections when it was politically convenient - but their choice of a five-year, rather than a four-year term drew criticismAnd some peers had argued that the coalition did not have a mandate to "bind" future parliaments.
They put forward plans that would in effect have required each new parliament to decide whether it wanted a fixed term.
Peers had twice backed a "sunset" provision that would have given both the Commons and the Lords the chance to choose whether to renew the legislation after each general election
.
Crossbench peer Lord Butler urged peers to stand firm and said the government's offer, to set up a review in 2020, was an "insult". And fellow crossbencher Lord Pannick said: "The proposal is not so much kicking the issue into the long grass as burying it in a time capsule."
But peers voted, by a majority of just 15, to back the government.
Advocate General Lord Wallace said any future government could choose to repeal the fixed-term legislation - but that would be the "subject of full parliamentary scrutiny as this Bill has been".
"By contrast the sunset amendments would switch fixed terms on and off like a light switch. Parliaments would default to non-fixed terms if a simple resolution fails to be tabled or if the two houses cannot agree on the matter."
The bill will now be sent for Royal Assent. (to become law)
Under the bill an election could still be triggered before the end of a five-year term if a motion of no confidence was passed in the government and no alternative administration could be formed, or if at least two-thirds of MPs approved calls for an early election.
The process of how a bill becomes a law in the UK can be seen here by the bill's flow:
Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011
So by the Act, now instead of waiting for the PM to call an election date within 5 years, the 2015 UK election date is set for 7 May 2015.
_____________________
Also more on Quango's (thanks to apgov.org)
Quasi means kinda-sorta
Autonomous means self-governing
NGOs are Non Governmental Organizations
A hypothetical example of a QuANGO
It's a good thing for the British economy if people purchase British wool. Instead of the government taking on this job and making already large bureaucracies even larger, they allocate some money and staff to create a Wool Development Council.
It's kind of like outsourcing bureaucratic work.
The Wool Development Council partnerships with local wool producers who are more than happy to help influence how the government's money is spent on promoting their industry.
This council doesn't report the Agriculture Ministry and likely makes rules about wool regulation, licensing of sheep, and maybe even creates an advertising campaign to make woolen goods the quintessential tourist purchase when people visit England.
QuANGOs have been popular because they can "punt" responsibility down to others and aren't accountable for poor decisions. On the opposite side of the coin, people don't like them because their heads aren't elected and so they have little accountability.
In 2010 the British Government said it had earmarked (chosen) nearly 200 quangos for closure, and 120 more for merging. In August 2012, the government said that 106 quangos had lost their public status since then. Some were axed, some were sold off, and some had their work done elsewhere.
According to Wikipedia, in the year 2006-07, tax payers funded 1,162 QuANGOs at a cost of nearly £64bn; equivalent to £2,550 per household.
If you're still confused, let the BBC try to explain it to you.
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