To what extent does parliament control executive power?
Executive power is understood to be the day-to-day running of a country by government, proposing and creating legislation. Parliament, consisting of the House of Commons and House of Lords, is in many ways able to strongly control executive power in ways such as scrutiny, limitation and holding the government to account. This essay will further explore areas where Parliament controls executive power in both significant and weak-insignificant extents.
Scrutiny is a main focus where by Parliament notably controls executive power and this is done primarily through select committees. Select committees work in both the House of Lords and Commons, their duty being to report and analysis the work of government departments. The committees are very effective as they deeply focus on serious issues they choose to scrutinize and are able to spend as much time on that issue, going into great detail scrutinizing both ministers and the executive as they go along. Select committees can call on anyone as a witness for a clearer viewpoint of the issues however it is the Ministers that are more regularly compelled to attend the meetings and held accountable, suggesting they must explain to the committees in detail what the executive is up to. In addition they finalize their discussion by submitting a heavy detailed report where they can include criticisms towards government, highlight their areas of weakness and expose their bad practice. On the other hand, the committees have one weakness where by they do not have the power to stop anything the executive decides to do, it is merely there to scrutinize and evaluate their issues as much as possible. They evolve to be very knowledgeable and experienced due to the range of experts in each department allowing their small membership of professionals to thoroughly pin point the issues and control executive power.
Legislation, making and proposing laws is another significant area where Parliament regulates the government’s power predominantly because of parliamentary sovereignty. This implies Parliament has the ability to make, unmake, amend or remove any laws it wishes suggesting no law is passed without Parliamentary consent. The government is unable to ignore their point of view on Law clearly defining the control and authority Parliament has over the executive and other subordinate bodies showing how limited their powers are in regards to legislation.
Furthermore in a parliamentary system of government there is a fusion of power between the legislature and the executive. The process by which legislation is passed includes various levels of scrutiny and approval to a great extent. At first a bill is drafted and then proposed for a new law and presented for debate before parliament. The bill can start in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, which then goes through various stages and must be approved by both houses before becoming an act. The most significant stages are the second reading and the committee stage where the scrutiny is most prominent and effective. During the second reading the bill is opened for debate and the responses and views of MP’s, opposition parties and backbenchers are heard and reacted upon. The commons vote after the second reading whether the bill can proceed to the next stage, the committee stage- a line-by-line examination of the bill. Amendments for change are proposed and evidence from experts outside of Parliament is taken into account. Every part of the bill is agreed to, changed or removed by all the member in the House of Commons and Lords in order to ensure the bill has been given as much consideration and analysis as possible. The passing of legislation is a very long process since every stage is repeated in the House of Lords and Commons as many times as it has to be before Parliament is able to pass the bill as a law.
On the contrary, Parliament is weaker and does not have as much power
