The House of Lords is part of the law-making process in
Parliament. It gives further consideration to Bills
sponsored by the Government which have come from
the Commons, and its major function is to revise
legislation, though the Commons is not bound to accept
Lords' amendments. It also initiates legislation - a function
that has increased recently, as the legislative programme
gets busier.
If the Lords and Commons disagree on an amendment - or the
Lords rejects a Commons Bill altogether - then the Bill cannot become law during the session in which it was introduced. This means that, under the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Commons may re-present the Bill in the Lords in the following session - at which point it can be passed without the Lords' consent.