What are the roles of peers?

A bill may begin in the House of Commons or the House of Lords. If a bill originates in the Commons, once it has passed its third reading it is passed to the House of Lords – discussed, examined by committee, amendments made and voted on and sent back to commons.
The Lords made 374 amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill. These were all agreed by the Commons, and the bill received royal assent in 2012.
It may go back and forth between the houses until agreement is reached. This is called ‘parliamentary Ping-Pong’
If the Lords refuses to agree with the Commons, the Commons can use the 1949 PA to force the bill through – allows the Lords to delay a bill by 1 year – used rarely: a recent example was the Hunting Act (2004).

Peers put qs to a gov spokesperson in a 30 min QT at the start of the day.
Debates Peers debate specific issues and at the end of each debate a government minister responds to the matters raised. Example: In 2020 the Lords debated the economic lessons od Covid-19.
Select committees these are set up to consider areas of public policy. E.g. in 2013 the
Public Service and Demographic Change Committee published a report regarding whether Britain was ready for an ageing pop.

Specialist knowledge means that some Lords will be able to offer excellent insights in debate – debate on Libya 2011, many of the speakers had extensive international experience -three former defence chiefs and a former NATO secretary general.
Lords can be appointed who have expertise in particular areas, or are a member of
particular groups, which would otherwise be underrepresented in Parliament e.g. Tanni Grey-Thompson is a former Paralympian who uses a wheelchair and has been critical of the government’s disability benefit reforms.
However, regardless of their expertise, peers are unelected – unaccountable to the electorate.