A Committee of the Whole House is when the Committee Stage of a Bill is taken on the floor of the House of Commons. Such committees normally only take place for emergency Bills, for certain clauses of the Finance Bill and for the clauses of Bills that have constitutional significance.Read More

Cross-cutting question sessions take place in Westminster Hall. Such question times are intended to give MPs the opportunity to question Ministers in different Departments on issues that do not fit easily into one Departmental brief (eg Young People). Questions for answer are tabled as with normal oral questions and advance notice is given of which...Read More

Government consultations are sounding exercises on the possibility of a government policy or a change in policy.Read More

The Civil Service is the operational and management tool of the Government. Civil servants implement the outcomes of the policy-making process under the supervision of Government Ministers.Read More

Cabinet Committees are groupings of Ministers designed to take the pressure off full Cabinet and to provide a lower-level forum for decision-making. Cabinet Committees are set up by the Prime Minister, and he or she appoints their membership.  Read More

Common Agricultural Policy Agriculture accounts for only 2.5 per cent of EU GDP and 5.5 per cent of employment, and yet alone it accounts for between 40 and 50 per cent of the EU's annual spending. There are a number of reasons for the enormous attention paid to agriculture by the EU. Historically, protection for...Read More

The EP's opinions carry a level of importance that is determined by the procedure under which a proposal is being pursued. The relevant procedure for any particular proposal is set out in the treaties. The four procedures in use are: 1. Consultation 2. Co-decision 3. Co-operation 4. Assent The first two are the most important,...Read More

The council is the EU's principal legislative body, a role it shares with the EP in some cases. It has greater powers to block and to facilitate commission proposals than the EP. Once a proposal from the commission is received by the council's general secretariat, it goes through two stages before reaching the Council of...Read More

The Council of Ministers, typically referred to as just 'the Council', is the EU's main decision-making and legislative body. In conjunction with the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers forms the EU's legislature. The Council of Ministers should not be confused either with the European Council or the Council of Europe. The former is a...Read More

As a recent innovation, a Bill first introduced in the Lords that has not yet completed its passage through the Upper House before prorogation may be carried over on the agreement of a motion.Read More

If a Bill is amended in the Commons, it must return to the Lords for peers to endorse or reject changes made there. The Government tables motions agreeing or disagreeing with Commons Amendments. It may also move amendments in lieu of changes rejected. Given the balance of power in Parliament, the Lords are in these...Read More

This stage normally starts at least two weeks after Second Reading. All Bills in the Lords normally go to a Committee of the Whole House, which, as the name suggests is a committee taken on the floor of the Lords. On occasion, Bills may be sent to a Grand Committee – an increasingly common practice....Read More

The Maastricht Treaty of 1993 allows the EU to develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), covering all areas of foreign and security policy.Read More

The key objectives of the common agricultural policy (CAP), as enshrined in the EU treaties, are to: Increase agricultural productivity thus to ensure a fair standard of living for agricultural producers; stabilise markets; assure availability of supplies; ensure reasonable prices to consumers. Read More

The European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was adopted in 1983, with the objective of ensuring that declining fish stocks are exploited responsibly - protecting the environment and the interests of the fishing industry and consumers.Read More

Cancer is any malignant growth or tumour caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division.Read More

Child poverty, as with poverty itself, is a complex notion to define precisely.Read More

During the last century, concern has grown about the pace at which climate change has been progressing and the extent to which human activity may be aggravating and distorting natural processes.Read More

Chris White, Conservative MP for Warwick & LeamingtonRead More