Effectiveness of parliaments in holding government to accountRepresentative democracy in Westminster

The role of Members of Parliament (MPs)

The main role of MPs in the House of Commons is to represent their constituents by debating, discussing, and voting on issues that are of concern to them and their constituents.

MPs debate and vote on proposed new laws, raise issues that are of concern to them or their constituents and scrutinise the work of the UK Government. They do this through:

• work on committees
• Question Time (including Prime Minister's Questions)
• debates

However, the governing party has their own tools to help them pass legislation. This includes:

• having a majority
• the whip system

Work on committees

A large part of the work completed in parliament is within committees. Committees can be made up of Lords as well as MPs. These committees consider government policy, scrutinise the work and expenditure of the government, and examine proposals for legislation.

There are two forms of parliamentary committee:

• select committees
• general committees

Select committees

There is a Commons select committee for each government department, examining three aspects:

• spending
• policies
• administration

These departmental committees have a minimum of eleven members. They decide upon the line of inquiry and then gather written and oral evidence. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations, however they do not have to act upon them.

General committees

General committees (also known as Public Bill Committees) look at parliamentary legislation and can suggest amendments to bills. These used to be called standing committees and are also a good opportunity for MPs to scrutinise the government.