Speaker's role (2019)
Request
- Can you please give me under a FOI request ALL the above rules, regulations, guidelines as regards the above in all matters brought before Westminster Parliament in all Legal Bills, proposals, from MPs and all Party's as well as regarding Referendums passed as Legal Bills for the UK Populous to have voted o
- Direct me to all of the full powers of the Speaker on rules, guidelines as above
Response
You have asked us a question regarding “Speakers Role and all Rules”, which we have sought to answer below.
- Can you please give me under a FOI request ALL the above rules, regulations, guidelines as regards the above in all matters brought before Westminster Parliament in all Legal Bills, proposals, from MPs and all Party's as well as regarding Referendums passed as Legal Bills for the UK Populous to have voted on
& - Direct me to all of the full powers of the Speaker on rules, guidelines as above
We understand your request to be for recorded information held by us on the role of the Speaker, as well as for all rules, guidelines and procedures relating to the Speaker, which as you stated may also be contained in documentation laid before the House of Commons, such as Bills or Members’ proposals.
Information relating to the Speaker’s role and related rules and guidelines is held by the House of Commons.
In an effort to promote openness and transparency, the information you seek has been published on our web pages. This can be accessed by using the search function but, to be helpful, we have provided some links below which relate to your request:
• The role of the Speaker
• The office and ceremonies of the Speaker
• The election of a Speaker
• Customs of the House
• The current Speaker’s webpages
The House of Commons Library also publishes more detailed information on the role of various senior House of Commons figures, including the Speaker, and this information is accessible on our webpages.
In addition, it’s important to remember that the Office of the Speaker is very old, and some rules agreed in the Chamber date back many years. These were recorded by Hansard, and examples can be found published online in our Historic Hansard database.
Other relevant information can also be found in commercial publications available to buy or from public libraries. In particular, more detailed information that relates your query about “rules, guidelines and procedures”, is available and can be found in "Erskine May (Parliamentary Practice 24th Edition)", which is the authoritative book on parliamentary law and practice. The book is a description of how procedure in the House of Commons and the House of Lords has evolved and the conventions that apply, rather than a set of rules. This particular publication is already publicly available to view in hard copy via larger public libraries or can be purchased.
As this information is all reasonably accessible to you otherwise than under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), your request is refused. In refusing your request the House is applying the exemption set out in section 21 (1) and (2) (a) of the FOIA. This is an absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.
Finally, you have requested any relevant information that may be contained in documentation laid before the House of Commons, such as Bills or Members’ proposals. Whilst the House of Commons holds information related to Bills and proposed draft legislation, we have to refuse this part of your request. This is because of the time it would take for us to search, locate and collate any information that may be relevant to your query.
It is difficult for us to estimate how much time would be required, but it is obvious that it would take many hundreds of hours to trawl through all the legislative documentation that we hold. The FOIA only obliges us to spend a maximum of 24 hours (equating to £600) to search for information therefore, and in accordance with section 12 of the Act, we must refuse. However, if you would like to narrow this part of your request we may be able to help further. You may wish to specify Bills passed within a certain time frame, for example. Alternatively, as details of legislation are easily available online (e.g. at www.legislation.gov.uk), you may wish to carry out your own searches for any that relates to the office of the Speaker.