A new bill now being considered by a special select committee would remove governments' power to determine funding for Parliament, the body that scrutinises the government's performance. The Parliament Bill would make numerous other changes, but the key constitutional recommendation is to take decisions about parliamentary funding away from governments and instead give the responsibility to a cross-party group of MPs. This would remove the temptation for a government to underfund scrutiny of its performance, limit opposition resources, or reduce democratic participation.
Parliament and the groups that make it run We often use the word Parliament to describe a building or an institution, but more accurately the Parliament is the group of MPs we elect to represent us, to provide an executive (government), to scrutinise that government, and debate and approve laws and spending. The building is Parliament House and the institution is the House of Representatives (but 'Parliament' is easier). The MPs don't make the place function.
Parliament has two small organisations that do that - the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk. The Parliamentary Service provides services to MPs, such as travel, electorate, staffing and security, as well as maintaining the physical precinct. The Office of the Clerk runs the House of Representatives itself; they are Parliament's secretariat and administer the House and its many committees.
They also look after Parliament's interactions wit.
