STANDING ORDERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS PUBLIC BUSINESS 1999

Standing Orders of the House of Commons - Public Business 1999 - continued	House of Commons

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Division unnecessarily claimed.	40. The Speaker or the chairman may, after the lapse of two minutes, if in her opinion the division is unnecessarily claimed, take the vote of the House, or committee, by calling upon the Members who support, and who challenge, her decision, successively to rise in their places; and she shall thereupon, as she thinks fit, either declare the determination of the House or committee, or name tellers for a division.
Quorum.	41. - (1) If it should appear that fewer than forty Members (including the occupant of the chair and the tellers) have taken part in a division, the business under consideration shall stand over until the next sitting of the House and the next business shall be taken.
	(2) The House shall not be counted at any time.
	Order in the House
Irrelevance or repetition.	42. The Speaker, or the chairman, after having called the attention of the House, or of the committee, to the conduct of a Member who persists in irrelevance, or tedious repetition either of his own argument or of the arguments used by other Members in debate, may direct him to discontinue his speech.
Disorderly conduct.	43. The Speaker, or the chairman, shall order any Member or Members whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House during the remainder of that day's sitting; and the Serjeant at Arms shall act on such orders as he may receive from the chair in pursuance of this order. But if on any occasion the Speaker, or the chairman, deems that her powers under the previous provisions of this order are inadequate, she may name such Member or Members, in which event the same procedure shall be followed as is prescribed by Standing Order No. 44 (Order in debate).
Order in debate.	44. - (1) Whenever a Member shall have been named by the Speaker, or by the chairman, immediately after the commission of the offence of disregarding the authority of the chair, or of persistently and wilfully obstructing the business of the House by abusing the rules of the House or otherwise, then if the offence has been committed by such Member in the House, the Speaker shall forthwith put the question, on a motion being made, 'That such Member be suspended from the service of the House'; and if the offence has been committed in a committee of the whole House, the chairman shall forthwith suspend the proceedings of the committee and report the circumstances to the House; and the Speaker shall on a motion being made forthwith put the same question, as if the offence had been committed in the House itself.
	Proceedings in pursuance of this paragraph, though opposed, may be decided after the expiration of the time for opposed business.
	(2) If any Member be suspended under paragraph (1) of this order, his suspension on the first occasion shall continue for five sitting days, and on the second occasion for twenty sitting days, including in either case the day on which he was suspended, but, on any subsequent occasion, until the House shall resolve that the suspension of such Member do terminate.
	(3) Not more than one Member shall be named at the same time, unless two or more Members, present together, have jointly disregarded the authority of the chair.
	(4) If a Member, or two or more Members acting jointly, who have been suspended under this order from the service of the House, shall refuse to obey the direction of the Speaker, when severally summoned under the Speaker's orders by the Serjeant at Arms to obey such direction, the Speaker shall call the attention of the House to the fact that recourse to force is necessary in order to compel obedience to her direction, and the Member or Members named by her as having refused to obey her direction shall thereupon and without any further question being put be suspended from the service of the House during the remainder of the session.
	(5) Nothing in this order shall be taken to deprive the House of the power of proceeding against any Member according to ancient usages.
Members suspended, &c., to withdraw from precincts.	45. (1) Members who are ordered to withdraw under Standing Order No. 43 (Disorderly conduct) or who are suspended from the service of the House shall forthwith withdraw from the precincts of the House
	(2) Suspension from the service of the House shall not exempt the Member so suspended from serving on any committee for the consideration of a private bill to which he may have been appointed before the suspension.
Suspension of salary of Members suspended.	45A. The salary of a Member suspended from the service of the House shall be withheld for the duration of his suspension.
Power of the Speaker to adjourn House or suspend sitting.	46. In case of grave disorder arising in the House the Speaker may, if she thinks it necessary to do so, adjourn the House without putting any question, or suspend the sitting for a time to be named by her.
Short speeches.	47. The Speaker may announce at or before the commencement of proceedings on any motion or order of the day relating to public business that she intends to call Members to speak in the debate thereon, or between certain hours during that debate, for no longer than any period she may specify (which shall not be less than eight minutes), and whenever the Speaker has made such an announcement she may direct any Member (other than a Minister of the Crown, a Member speaking on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition, or not more than one Member nominated by the leader of the second largest opposition party) who has spoken for that period to resume his seat forthwith. Provided that, in calculating that period, the Speaker may disregard the time taken by interventions.
	Public Money
Recommendation from Crown required on application relating to public money.	48. This House will receive no petition for any sum relating to public service or proceed upon any motion for a grant or charge upon the public revenue, whether payable out of the Consolidated Fund or the National Loans Fund or out of money to be provided by Parliament, or for releasing or compounding any sum of money owing to the Crown, unless recommended from the Crown.
Certain proceedings relating to public money.	49. Any charge upon the public revenue whether payable out of the Consolidated Fund or the National Loans Fund or out of money to be provided by Parliament including any provision for releasing or compounding any sum of money owing to the Crown shall be authorised by resolution of the House.
Procedure upon bills whose main object is to create a charge upon the public revenue.	50. - (1) A bill (other than a bill which is required to be brought in upon a ways and means resolution) the main object of which is the creation of a public charge may either be presented, or brought in upon an order of the House, by a Minister of the Crown, and, in the case of a bill so presented or brought in, the creation of the charge shall not require to be authorised by a resolution of the House until the bill has been read a second time, and after the charge has been so authorised the bill shall be proceeded with in the same manner as a bill which involves a charge that is subsidiary to its main purpose.
	(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this order shall apply to any bill brought from the Lords, of which a Minister of the Crown has informed the Clerks at the Table of his intention to take charge.
Ways and means motions.	51. - (1) A ways and means motion may be made in the House without notice on any day as soon as an address has been agreed to in answer to Her Majesty's Speech.
	(2) A Minister of the Crown may without notice make a motion for giving provisional statutory effect to any proposals in pursuance of section 5 of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968; and the question on such a motion shall be put forthwith.
	(3) When the question has been decided on the first of several motions upon which a bill is to be brought in for imposing, renewing, varying or repealing any charge upon the people, the question on each such further motion shall be put forthwith; and proceedings in pursuance of this paragraph, though opposed, may be decided after the expiration of the time for opposed business.
Money resolutions and ways and means resolutions in connection with bills.	52. - (1) The Speaker shall put the questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on motions authorising expenditure in connection with a bill and on ways and means motions in connection with a bill-
	(a) forthwith, if such a motion is made at the same sitting as that at which the bill has been read a second time; or
	(b) not later than three-quarters of an hour after the commencement of those proceedings, if the motion is made otherwise.
	(2) Business to which this order applies may be proceeded with at any hour, though opposed.
Application of public money standing orders to private bills, &c.	53. In relation to private bills, provisional order bills and bills introduced under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936, or the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945, the standing orders relating to public money shall have effect subject to any exceptions prescribed by the standing orders of this House relating to private business.
Consideration of estimates.	54. - (1) Three days, other than Fridays, before 5th August, shall be allotted in each session for the consideration of estimates set down under the provisions of paragraph (2) of Standing Order No. 145 (Liaison Committee); and not more than one day so allotted may be taken in the form of two half days, not being Fridays.
	(2) On any such day-
	(a) consideration of estimates or reports of the Liaison Committee relating thereto shall stand as first business; and
	(b) other business may be taken before ten o'clock only if the consideration of estimates has been concluded.
	(3) On any such half day-
	(a) proceedings on consideration of estimates or reports of the Liaison Committee relating thereto, standing as first business, shall be interrupted at seven o'clock; or
	(b) notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2) of this order, consideration of estimates or reports of the Liaison Committee relating thereto may be set down for consideration at seven o'clock and shall be entered upon at that time: Provided that on days on which business stands over until seven o'clock under the provisions of Standing Order No. 24 (Adjournment on specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration) or has been set down for that hour under the provisions of Standing Order No. 20 (Time for taking private business) proceedings under this sub-paragraph shall not be entered upon until such business has been disposed of and may then be proceeded with for three hours, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No. 9 (Sittings of the House).
	(4) On any day or half day allotted under this order, questions necessary to dispose of proceedings (other than a dilatory motion) on the estimates on which debate has been concluded shall be deferred until the hour prescribed under paragraph (5) of this order.
	(5) At ten o'clock on an allotted day or half day, or as soon thereafter as proceedings under the proviso to paragraph (3)(b) of this order have been disposed of, the Speaker shall put, successively, any questions deferred under paragraph (4) of this order, and any questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on all other estimates appointed for consideration on that day.
Questions on voting of estimates, &c.	55. - (1) On any day to which the provisions of paragraphs (2), (3) or (4) of this order apply the Speaker shall at ten o'clock put the questions on-
	(a) any outstanding vote relating to numbers for defence services;
	(b) the total amount outstanding in respect of each financial year to be granted out of the Consolidated Fund for the purposes defined in the related votes.
	(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this order shall apply on a day not later than 6th February, if any of the following total amounts have been put down for consideration:
	(a) votes on account for the coming financial year;
	(b) supplementary estimates for the current financial year which have been presented at least seven clear days previously.
	(3) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this order shall apply on a day not later than 18th March, if any of the following numbers or total amounts have been put down for consideration:
	(a) votes relating to numbers for defence services;
	(b) supplementary estimates for the current financial year which have been presented at least seven clear days previously;
	(c) excess votes, provided that the Committee of Public Accounts has reported that it sees no objection to the sums necessary being provided by excess vote.
	(4) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this order shall apply on a day not later than 5th August, if the total amount of estimates which are still outstanding has been put down for consideration.
	(5) At least two days' notice shall be given of the votes which are to be put down for consideration under paragraphs (2), (3) or (4) of this order.
	(6) The provisions of this order shall not apply to any vote of credit or votes for supplementary or additional estimates for war expenditure.
Consolidated Fund Bills.	56. When a motion shall have been made for the second reading of a Consolidated Fund or an Appropriation Bill, the question thereon shall be put forthwith, no order shall be made for the committal of the bill and the question for third reading shall be put forthwith; and the said questions may be decided at any hour, though opposed.

Prepared 13 January 1999