This Library Note aims to provide background reading for the debate on 20 January 2011: "To call attention to the constitutional and parliamentary effect of Coalition Government".
Debate on 20 January: Constitutional and Parliamentary Effect of Coalition Government (464 KB , PDF)
This Note examines some of the issues surrounding government by coalition, particularly those highlighted since the formation of the current Coalition in May 2010. It considers constitutional issues that arose before and immediately after the 2010 general election, then sets out the administrative arrangements put in place to allow the Coalition Cabinet and machinery of government to function. It examines issues that have both constitutional and parliamentary significance (fixed term parliaments, the Salisbury Doctrine, government majority in the House of Lords) and, finally, deals with practical parliamentary matters such as Short/Cranborne money, seating arrangements, and parliamentary procedure and language.
Debate on 20 January: Constitutional and Parliamentary Effect of Coalition Government (464 KB , PDF)
This proposed law would introduce a new “think again” procedure in the House of Lords so members could ask the House of Commons to consider their concerns before a draft affirmative statutory instrument is approved.
![Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 14 of 2024–25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/House-of-Lords-568x426.png)
Public services productivity in the UK fell sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic and is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The Conservative government pledged new investment in an attempt to boost the effectiveness of public services prior to the general election. The new Labour government has also placed emphasis on this issue and has indicated further measures will be set out in the forthcoming budget statement.
A recent paper about UK foreign policy called for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to “modernise the working environment to set a future oriented culture”. It described the FCDO’s physical surroundings as “somewhat elitist and rooted in the past”. This briefing looks back at Lords Hansard to chart the House’s response to more radical plans in the 1960s that proposed a new foreign office building, which later formed part of a wider scheme for the redevelopment of Whitehall.
