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The main Bills constituting the Government's legislative programme are announced in the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, which usually occurs in November.
Government Bills I Private Members Bills I Private Bills
Government Bills
Public Bills can be introduced into either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. As a rule, government bills likely to raise political controversy start in the Commons, while those of a technical but less party-political nature often go to the Lords first. Bills with a mainly financial purpose are always introduced in the Commons. If the main object of a public bill is to create a public charge - involving new taxation or public spending - it must be introduced by a government minister in the Commons
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The procedure of passing a Public Bill is similar in both Houses. The stages are:
The first reading of a public bill is a formality. Once formally presented, a bill is printed and proceeds to a second reading. Amendments can be made at the committee and subsequent stages.
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'Second Reading'
Second Readings in the House of Commons
Following its first reading, a government bill will usually have its second reading within the next fortnight if time permits. This provides the first main occasion for debate on the general principles of a bill - detailed discussion being reserved for the committee stage.
On second reading the bill is normally proposed by a government minister (often the senior minister) in the department responsible for the measure. He or she outlines the main principles of the bill and summarises the most important clauses. The official Opposition spokesman then responds and during the debate the views of other opposition parties and backbenchers are heard. The debate normally concludes with a response from another government minister and he or she deals with some of the major points raised in the debate.
Unless the bill is non-controversial the Opposition in the Commons will usually decide to vote against a government bill on its second reading, or to move an amendment to the motion 'that the bill be read a second time'.
If the House votes against the bill at second reading, the bill can progress no further, but this virtually never happens.
Public bills relating exclusively to Scotland or Wales have been referred by the House of Commons, in certain circumstances, to the Scottish or Welsh Grand Committee. When this happens, the second reading committee must report that it has considered the principle of the bill. The Bill thus returned to the House has not been read a second time, but subsequently a formal motion to give it a second reading is considered without debate. UK Parliament bills relating exclusively to Scotland are rare since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.
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Second Readings in the House of Lords
As in the Commons, following its first reading, a government bill will have its second reading within the next fortnight. The debate is opened, and may also be closed, by the senior government spokesperson in the Lords for the government department responsible for the bill. There is a convention (known as the 'Salisbury' convention) that the Government's manifesto commitments, in the form of Government Bills, are not opposed by the House of Lords at second reading, but reasoned amendments may be tabled as a means of indicating dissent and can be voted on.
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'Committee Stage'
Committee stage in the House of Commons
When a Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons, it is usually referred to a standing committee for detailed, clause - by - clause examination. In some cases a bill may be referred to a Committee of the Whole House instead. Bills which have their committee stage on the floor of the House generally fall into one of the following categories:
bills of major constitutional importance (for example those concerned with the ratification of the treaties constituting the European Union, or with the government of parts of the United Kingdom)
bills which the Government needs to pass with unusual speed (for example when the Courts have found a previous Act defective, and this has major financial or political consequences, or there is a state of emergency)
bills which are of a very uncontroversial nature (for example those consolidating existing law) of which the committee stage is expected to be very short and where it would not be worthwhile to establish a standing committee
private Members' bills which are not opposed and of which all the stages are taken without debate
Bills may be divided between a standing committee and Committee of the whole House. Generally, some clauses of the annual Finance Bill are taken in Committee of the whole House and the remainder in standing committee. Particularly controversial clauses of other government bills (for example those which raise questions of conscience, such as capital punishment) are occasionally taken in Committee of the whole House while the remainder of the bill is taken in standing committee.
House of Commons Standing Committees
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments.
Committees on government bills are 'timetabled' in advance by a Programme Motion which limits the amount of time that a committee can spend on a bill. Due to the pressure of time not all amendments tabled by MPs are selected by the chair for debate. At the conclusion of the committee stage the bill is reported back to the House (amended or not as the case may be) to await report stage and third reading.
Very occasionally a bill is referred instead to a special standing committee. These sit as select committees for one deliberative meeting (in private) and up to three meetings for taking evidence (in public). The chairman for these sittings is chosen by the Speaker, but not necessarily from the Chairmen's Panel, the usual practice being to appoint the Chairman of the relevant departmental committee for this purpose. These sittings have to be completed by four sitting weeks after the bill is committed, unless the House allows a longer period. Afterwards, the committees go through the bills clause by clause like other standing committees, and with a member of the Chairmen's Panel in the Chair.
Uniquely for a public bill, the quinquennial Armed Forces Bill is always referred to a select committee for consideration before being re-committed to a standing committee or Committee of the Whole House.
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Committee Stage in the House of Lords
In the House of Lords there are no standing committees. Bills normally go through their committee stage in a Committee of the Whole House, although there are four other procedures which may be used instead:
Grand Committee - a Committee of the Whole House, in which no votes are taken, that takes place away from the chamber, saving time on the floor of the House. Sometimes referred to as 'Moses Room' procedure, it is now regularly used for less contentious bills and often in parallel with sittings in the chamber .
Public Bill Committee - used, rarely, for government bills of a technical and non-controversial nature. All peers are free to attend but only those peers appointed to serve on the committee may vote.
Special Public Bill Committee - very rarely used, resembling a Commons Special Standing Committee with a defined period [28 days] of evidence-taking before detailed consideration of a bill commences.
Select Committee - used more often for private members' bills than government bills. This procedure allows detailed investigation of a policy in the bill. The select committee then recommends whether or not the bill should proceed; if so, the committee may make its own amendments to the bill before it is re-committed to a Committee of the Whole House.
Unlike the Commons, all amendments tabled may be debated during a committee stage in the Lords as there is no 'guillotine' or programming to restrict the duration of debates.
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'Report Stage'
Report Stage in the House of Commons
A fortnight after a standing committee has examined a bill it then reports its decisions for consideration by the House as a whole. The report stage is an opportunity for members not serving on the standing committee to propose further amendments or new clauses to a bill. All members may speak and vote and for lengthy or complex bills the debate may be spread over several days. Bills which have had their committee stage entirely on the floor of the House do not normally receive a full report stage debate.
In the House of Commons the report stage is usually followed immediately (ie, as the next item of business) by the bill's third reading debate.
Report Stage in the House of Lords
Although most bills have their committee stage on the floor of the House in the Lords, a report stage, similar to that in the Commons, still follows two weeks later for bills of considerable length and complexity.
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'Third Reading'
At the third reading a bill is reviewed in its final form including amendments made at earlier stages. In the Commons substantive amendments cannot be made to a bill at this stage and the third reading debate is generally short.
In the Lords, amendments can be made at third reading provided the issue has not been voted on at an earlier stage.
After passing its third reading in one House a bill is sent to the other House.
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Agreement of both Houses
Having received its third reading in one House, a bill is sent to the other House where it passes through all the stages once more. Financial legislation is not scrutinised in detail by the Lords.
The passage through the second House is not a formality, and bills can be further amended. Amendments made by the second House must be agreed by the first, or a compromise agreement reached, such that both Houses have agreed the same text, before a bill can receive Royal Assent.
Bills with contentious amendments pass back and forth between the Houses before agreement is reached. If each House insists on its amendments, a bill may be lost.
Limitations on the power of the Lords
Most government bills introduced and passed in the Lords pass through the Commons without difficulty, but a bill from the Lords which proved unacceptable to the Commons would not become law. The Lords do not generally prevent bills from the Commons becoming law, although they will often amend them and return them for further consideration by the Commons.
The assent of the Lords is not essential, subject to certain conditions, in the case of 'money bills'. Bills dealing solely with taxation or expenditure must become law within one month of being sent to the Lords.
If, after the process of considering amendments, it proves impossible to reach agreement on a non-financial bill, then the bill may be lost. Alternatively, the Commons can use its powers to present a bill originating in the House of Commons for Royal Assent after one year and in a new session, even if the Lords' objections are maintained.
These limits to the powers of the Lords are contained in the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949. They are based on the belief that the main legislative function of the non-elected House is to act as a chamber of revision, complementing but not rivalling the elected House.
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'Royal Assent'
When a bill has completed all its parliamentary stages, it receives Royal Assent from the Queen. Royal Assent nowadays is generally declared to both Houses by their Speakers and is listed in Hansard, the official record of proceedings in Parliament.
(See, for example, Notification of Royal Assent, House of Commons, 1 May 2002)
After this the bill becomes part of the law of the land and is known as an Act of Parliament.
Royal Assent was last given in person by the Sovereign in 1854. The Royal Assent has not been refused since 1707, when Queen Anne refused it for a Bill for settling the militia in Scotland.
Usually, public bills which have not been passed by the end of a parliamentary session are lost. Following a recommendation of the House of Commons Modernisation Committee it was agreed that, in certain circumstances, public bills may be carried over from one session to the next, in the same way that private and hybrid bills may be.
Changes to standing orders in the 2002-03 parliamentary session allow for more
public bills to be carried over in this way. The first bill to be treated in this way was the Financial Services and Markets Bill 1998/99.
Further Information:
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Acts of Parliament on the Internet
Her Majesty's Stationery Office website
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Private Members' Bills
While government bills are highly likely to become law, few private members' bills do so. Indeed, many such bills are not even debated in the Commons.
In the Commons, private members' bills have
precedence over government business on all sitting Fridays. Early in
each session backbench MPs hold a ballot for the opportunity to
introduce a bill on one of the sitting Fridays during the session .
The first 20 MPs whose names are drawn win this privilege.
There are also other opportunities to introduce such bills. For example, on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the Commons is sitting an MP may seek to introduce a bill under the 'ten minute rule'. This allows the proposer to make a brief speech in favour and an objector to speak briefly against it. This process is often used more as a way of making a point about the need to change the law on a particular matter rather than a serious attempt at legislation.
In the House of Lords, peers have an unrestricted right to introduce Private Members' Bills. Unlike the Commons, the House of Lords does not allocate certain days for private members' bills; time is normally made available for them as necessary.
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Private Legislation
Private Bills are prompted by outside interests and are introduced into Parliament through a petition by the person or organisation desiring the bill. Petitions are subject to scrutiny before being accepted into Parliament. Most are local in character, promoted by bodies such as Local Authorities or statutory bodies seeking special powers.
On acceptance, the bill may be started in either House and goes through the same stages as a public bill. Most of the work is done in committee, where procedures follow a semi-judicial pattern. The promoter must prove the need for the powers sought, and the objections of opposing interests are heard.
Private bills may be carried over from one session to the next.
Occasionally a type of private bill known as a 'Personal Bill' is presented to Parliament. Personal bills affect only one or two people and always begin in the House of Lords.
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