This reference book is primarily a procedural work which examines the many forms, customs, and practices which have been developed and established for the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867. It provides a distinctive Canadian perspective in describing procedure in the House up to the end of the first session of the 36th Parliament in Sept. 1999. The material is presented with full commentary on the historical circumstances which have shaped the current approach to parliamentary business. Key Speaker's rulings and statements are also documented and the considerable body of practice, interpretation, and precedents unique to the Canadian House of Commons is amply illustrated. Chapters of the book cover the following: parliamentary institutions; parliaments and ministries; privileges and immunities; the House and its Members; parliamentary procedure; the physical & administrative setting; the Speaker & other presiding officers; the parliamentary cycle; sittings of the House; the daily program; oral & written questions; the process of debate; rules of order & decorum; the curtailment of debate; special debates; the legislative process; delegated legislation; financial procedures; committees of the whole House; committees; private Members' business; public petitions; private bills practice; and the parliamentary record. Includes index.

This publication contains the Standing Orders of the House of Lords which set out information on the procedure and working of the House, under a range of headings including: Lords and the manner of their introduction; excepted hereditary peers; the Speaker; general observances; debates; arrangement of business; bills; divisions; committees; parliamentary papers; public petitions; privilege; making or suspending of Standing Orders.

Based on unprecedented access to the UK Parliament, this book challenges how we understand and think about accountability between government and Parliament. Drawing on three months of research in Westminster, and over forty-five interviews, this book focuses on the everyday practices of Members of Parliament and officials to reveal how parliamentarians perform their scrutiny roles. Some MPs become specialists while others act as lone wolves; some are there to try to defend their party while others want to learn about policy. Amongst these different styles, chairs of committees have to try to reconcile these interpretations and either act as committee-orientated catalysts or attempt to impose order as leadership-orientated chieftains. All of this pushes and pulls scrutiny in competing directions, and tells us that accountability depends on individual beliefs, everyday practices and the negotiation of dilemmas. In this way, MPs and officials create a drama or spectacle of accountability and use their performance on the parliamentary stage to hold government to account. Dramas at Westminster: Select committees and the quest for accountability offers the most up-to-date and detailed research on committee practices in the House of Commons, following a range of reforms since 2010.

This report from the Members Estimate Committee (HCP 142, session 2008-09, ISBN 9780215525857). contains a fully revised version of the Green Book and has made proposals for a more comprehensive system of audit and assurance for Members' allowances. The Green Book which sets out the rules on Members' allowances has been thoroughly revised with the help of independent external advisers: Keith Bradford nominated by the CBI and Kay Carberry nominated by the TUC. It includes: rules intended to ensure that Members are reimbursed only for costs properly incurred in the performance of their parliamentary duties; a list of principles which are to guide Members in making claims, such as that claims must only be for expenditure which was necessary for a Member properly to perform his or her parliamentary duties, and the requirement to ensure value for money; a requirement for receipts for any item exceeding £25. The audit proposals include the following: the House's external auditor (the National Audit Office) for the first time to conduct the audit on the same basis as for any other public body, examining evidence such as receipts; the House's Internal Audit service to have the same access to evidence as the external auditor, and to give a high priority to the audit of Members' allowances; a new Operational Assurance Unit within the House's Department of Resources to advise Members, maintain standards and ensure compliance with the rules; new arrangements for handling serious instances of non-compliance identified internally (ie reporting initially to the Members Estimate Audit Committee, which has external members).