House of Lords

The Lords work in Parliament's second chamber - the House of Lords - and complement and operate alongside the business of the House of Commons. It is one of the busiest second chambers in the world. The expertise of its Members and flexibility to scrutinise an issue in depth means the Lords makes a significant contribution to Parliament's work. The UK public does not elect Members of the Lords. Lords do not represent constituencies and do not get paid a salary. For information about how Lords are appointed click here.

What the Lords do

Making laws: Making laws takes up the bulk of the House of Lords time, and Members are involved throughout the process of proposing, revising and amending legislation. Some Bills introduced by the Government begin in the Lords to spread the workload between the two Houses.

Checking the work of government: Lords check the work of the Government by questioning and debating decisions made by ministers and government departments.

Specialist committees: There are permanent committees investigating work relating to Europe, science and technology, economics and the constitution. Occasionally one-off committees are set up to deal with issues outside these areas.

Business in the Lords

Monday: 2.30pm-10pm
Tuesday: 2.30pm-10pm
Wednesday: 3pm-10pm
Thursday: 11am-7.30pm
Friday: 10am-close of business (NB. The Lords only sits on certain Fridays)

On any given sitting day business follows roughly the same pattern of:

  • Prayers
  • Lords Questions
  • Ministerial Statements (Commons statements will sometimes be repeated in the Lords at an appropriate time to fit in with main business)
  • Main Business (debates)
  • Divisions

Other business that takes place in the Lords includes:

  • Written answers
  • Written Ministerial statements
  • Judgements

For details of current and future business in the Lords click here.