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The Corporation

Posted: 18/03/15

Students get a Parliamentary insight

Students from West Nottinghamshire College welcomed a member of the House of Lords this week (16 March), who gave them a glimpse of life at Westminster.

  • (l-r) Emily Moseley, Jordan Withers, Baroness Byford, Simon Davis, Paige Gray and Avi Mann
  • A Level students asked the Conservative peer many questions about life in the House of Lords

Baroness Byford met with A Level students as part of the Peers in Schools programme which is managed by the The Lord Speaker's office. The scheme is part of the House of Lords outreach programme, which raises awareness of the Lords and encourages people to get involved in its work.

Members, whose backgrounds include careers as academics, former teachers, scientists, lawyers, former cabinet ministers and civil servants, have visited almost a thousand schools.

Baroness Byford, whose background is agriculture and volunteering, provided students with an insight into the House of Lords and how business is run throughout the week. She spoke about how the Lord Speaker chairs business in the chamber and who sits where in the House of Lords.

Students took part in a question and answer session with the Conservative peer, who joined the House of Lords in 1996, and learnt more about the Parliamentary process and life at Westminster including how questioning, debating and statements work.

Sociology, business and law student Simon Davis, said: “It was a really interesting visit. Baroness Byford gave us a great insight into the Parliamentary activity in the House of Lords and how different aspects of how decision making happens within the government.

“This will be beneficial when I’m writing one of my assignments. I’d like to train to become a barrister after university.”

Baroness Byford said: “I’ve been involved in the Peers in Schools programme for several years now and I thoroughly enjoy being able to give young people some understanding of how The House of Lords functions. We can’t expect people to understand the system if they’ve not had an insight.

“Visiting schools and colleges gives me an opportunity to also explain the work of the House of Commons and how everything that comes through on legislation goes through this route via the MPs.

“I really enjoyed hearing the students’ questions and meeting some of them after the session.”