Anne in Parliament
As a backbench MP Anne uses a number of ways in Parliament to hold the Government to account and to make sure that the people of Aberdeen South are represented.
This page has links to Anne's speeches in Parliament, motions that she has tabled or supported, her work on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, the Chairmen's Panel and her questions to Government Ministers.
Parliament is an essential part of UK politics. Its main roles are:
Speeches in the chamber
Any Member of Parliament can speak during a debate on the floor of the House. However, during busy debates the Member must catch the eye of the speaker, and the speaker will only call those Members who have made him aware beforehand that they wish to speak. Even then, depending on time and demand the Speaker may only call those who have a special interest in the subject being debated.
A list of Anne's Top 10 speeches are on the sidebar. They are all taken from Hansard, the Official Report of Parliament.
Early Day Motions
An Early Day Motion, or EDM, is a motion put down ("tabled") by Members of Parliament calling for a debate on a particular subject. In practice, there is rarely time to debate EDMs nowadays and their true modern-day purpose is to enable MPs to draw attention to an issue and to canvass support for their views by inviting other Members to add their signatures in support of the motion.
You can use the links on the sidebar to see all the EDMs currently tabled and all of the EDMs that Anne has signed or tabled.
Please e-mail Anne if you want your MP to add her support to an EDM
The Work and Pensions Select Committee
Anne is a senior and active member of the Select Committee for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
There is a Commons Select Committee for each government department, examining three aspects: spending, policies and administration. These departmental committees have a minimum of 11 members, who decide upon the line of inquiry and then gather written and oral evidence. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee’s recommendations
The DWP is the largest-spending Government Department (over £120 billion pa) and employs about 113,500 people. The Department operates principally through five Executive Agencies: Jobcentre Plus, the Pension Service, the Child Support Agency, the Disability and Carers Service and the Rent Service. Jobcentre Plus brings together the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency for people of working age and the Pension Service is responsible for a range of benefits and services for pensioners. The Committee also oversees the work of several other bodies associated with the DWP, including the Disability Rights Commission and the Health and Safety Executive.
On the sidebar are links to the latest reports from the Committee and information on current inquiries.