Архитектурные шедевры Великобритании. Рябцева Е.В. - 14 стр.

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The furniture in the new chamber was given by members of the Commonwealth. Galleries above the
Speaker's chair are for the press, and those opposite for 'distinguished strangers', peers, diplomats and the public.
On either side of the chamber are the division lobbies used for voting. MPs vote by going either the ‘Aye’ lobby
or the ‘No’ lobby, where they give their names to the clerks sitting at the high desks and are counted by tellers
as they file out. They have eight minutes to reach the lobbies before the doors are locked. When all MPs have
voted, the tellers from both sides report their figures to the Chair. Other rooms nearby include the long suite of
comfortable rooms overlooking the river which house the Commons Library and the members' and strangers'
dining rooms. Purpose-built accommodation for the Commons Library was created in the New Palace. This spa-
cious room with its writing tables and deep armchairs retains much atmosphere of the nineteenth-century club.
Parliamentary committees meet in the committee rooms on the first and the second floors of the palace,
overlooking the river. They are small groups of members appointed by each House on the basis of party balance.
In the Commons, standing committees consider most bills in detail, and in both Houses select committees in-
quire into specific matters. Some of the most active are the investigative select committees of the Commons that
scrutinise the work and policy of the principal Government departments.
Answer the following questions.
1. What is centered in the House of Commons?
2. What is usually discussed in the House of Commons?
3. Was the Lobby in the House of Commons completely ruined after an air raid on 10 May 1941?
4. How did Sir G. Scott repeat the old design for the House of Commons?
5. Why wasn’t the Common’s chamber enlarged so that to hold all the MPs?
6. What is there on the either side of the chamber?
It’s interesting to know.
Reporting and broadcasting of Parliament
Until the late eighteenth century the House of Commons firmly discouraged the reporting of its proceedings,
but the practice came to be accepted and in 1803 press reporters were given a reserved part of the gallery. Re-
ports of debates appeared in William Cobbett’s Parliamentary Debates which were taken over by Thomas Han-
sard, an operation run by the House itself since 1909. The verbatim report of proceedings up to about 11 pm is
available the next morning. A separate series prepared by staff of the House of Lords covers debates in that
House.
Permanent sound broadcasting of Parliament began in 1978, and television broadcasting in 1986 in the
Lords and in 1990 in the Commons. Use is made of remote-control cameras operated from a control room, and
coverage includes the work of parliamentary committees.
Daily timetable of the House of Commons
2.30 pm (10 am Wednesday). The Speaker arrives in the chamber after a procession from the Speaker’s
House via the Lower Waiting Hall and Central Lobby. The Speaker’s Chaplain leads the House in prayers.
10.05 am – 2.30 pm Wednesdays. Short adjournment debates on subjects chosen by backbenchers.
2.35 – 3.30 pm. Questions to ministers (based on a rota of departments).
3.15 – 3.30 pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. Questions to the Prime Minister.
3.30 pm. Private Notice (emergency) questions to ministers, statesmen by ministers and points of order to
the Speaker.
3.30 pm (or later). Main business of the day begins.
10 pm (or later). Other items.
Last half-hour of sitting. Adjournment debate on a subject chosen by a backbencher.
The average length of a daily sitting is currently 8 hours 23 minutes. On Fridays the House meets at 9.30
am, does not usually take questions to ministers, and is likely to adjourn at 3 pm or shortly after.
The Parliamentary Year
A Parliament lasts up to five years, and its term is divided into a number of sessions. These normally last
twelve months and start with the State Opening by the Queen in early November. The two Houses sit until

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