Matters for the Procedure Committee in the 2015 Parliament - Procedure Contents


Appendix


EXPERIENCE OF THE PILOTING OF EXTENDED DEADLINES FOR TABLING AT REPORT STAGE: Note by the Public Bill Office

Introduction

1. On 7 April 2014, the Procedure Committee recommended:

"… that a trial take place for the course of the 2014-15 Session of a three-day deadline for the tabling of amendments and new clauses/schedules at report stage of all programmed bills."[47]

The House approved this recommendation on 8 May 2014. Previously, the deadline for tabling amendments for Report stage was two days - so for a Report Stage on a Monday, the deadline for tabling was the rise of the House on the preceding Thursday. Under the experiment, the deadline for a report stage on a Monday is the rise of the House on the previous Wednesday.

2. The Committee's aim in bringing forward the deadline was to provide time, after the Speaker had decided on selection and grouping of amendments, for the Government to table a supplementary programme motion which reflected the grouping. The Committee undertook to review the operation of the trial towards the end of this session. This paper seeks to inform that review. (Note - for the sake of brevity, references to amendments should be taken also to include new clauses and new schedules).

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT ON PROGRAMMING

3. In practice, for a number of reasons this Session had not produced very much evidence as to the impact of the change in the tabling deadline on programming. There has not yet been a case where the extended deadline has had an explicit impact on a decision by Government on whether to table a supplementary programme motion.[48] For this reason, and for the reasons set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 below, it would helpful if the experiment could be continued for the duration of the 2015-16 Session, so that a more substantial body of evidence could be obtained. The experiment could then reviewed again.

OTHER IMPACTS

4. Although the earlier deadline has been trialled with the specific intention of assisting with effective programming, it has had other advantages in practice. The earlier deadline means that Members seeking to take part in a debate have earlier notice of all the amendments, and the earlier decision on selection and grouping also assists Members (including Ministers and their officials) in preparing for the debate. The Public Bill Office has not received any complaints from Members about the earlier cut-off for tabling amendments.

5. The change in the deadline for the report stage of programmed bills has, however, highlighted inconsistencies in the tabling deadlines for committee and report stages. At the moment, the deadlines are as follows:

a)  Committee of the whole House (programmed and un-programmed bills): two days

b)  Public Bill Committee (programmed and un-programmed bills): three days

c)  Report stage on programmed bills: three days

d)  Report stage on un-programmed bills (in practice, these are nearly all private Members' bills): two days.

There is some evidence, based on the experience of the current session, in which two substantial bills were in Committee of the whole House, that some Members, and their staff, find the differences in practice relating to committee and report stage confusing.

6. There might therefore be merit, if the experiment with the extended deadline were to be prolonged, to extend it to Committee of the whole House and to the report stage of un-programmed Bills. This would also extend the benefits of the earlier deadline noted above. In the case of Committee of the whole House, it would also allow time, if desired, for a supplementary programme motion to be tabled to reflect the Chairman of Ways and Means's selection and grouping of amendments.

RECOMMENDATION

7. The PBO recommends that the experimental three day deadline for amendments at report stage be extended for the duration of the 2015-16 session, with the aim of gathering sufficient data for the Committee to review and report on before the end of that session. For the reasons set out in paragraphs 4-6, the PBO also suggests that the experimental deadline be extended to amendments in Committee of the whole House of all bills and at report stage of un-programmed bills.

2 March 2015


47   6th Report, Programming: proposal for a trial of new arrangements for the tabling of amendments to bills at report stage, HC 1220, paragraph 7. Back

48   More detailed information about the number of report stages, number of supplementary programme motions, etc, is available if required. Back


 
previous page contents next page


© Parliamentary copyright 2015
Prepared 17 March 2015