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Standing Orders of the House of Commons

Public Business 2021

Standing orders are rules agreed by the House that govern the way its business operates in the Chamber and committees. There's more information about standing orders in the MPs' Guide to Procedure.

Table of Contents

The Speaker

1. Election of the Speaker: Member presiding

1A. Re-election of former Speaker

1B. Election of Speaker by secret ballot

Deputy Speakers and Chairmen

2. Deputy Chairmen

2A. Election of the Deputy Speakers

3. Deputy Speaker

4. Panel of Chairs

Members (Introduction and Seating)

5. Affirmation in lieu of oath

6. Time for taking the oath

7. Seats not to be taken before prayers

8. Seats secured at prayers

Sittings of the House

9. Sittings of the House

10. Sittings in Westminster Hall

11. Friday sittings

12. House not to sit on certain Fridays

13. Earlier meeting of House in certain circumstances

Arrangement and Timing of Public and Private Business

14. Arrangement of public business

15. Exempted business

16. Proceedings under an Act or on European Union documents

17. Delegated legislation (negative procedure)

18. Consideration of draft legislative reform orders etc.

19. New writs

20. Time for taking private business

Questions, Motions, Amendments and Statements

21. Time for taking questions

22. Notices of questions, motions and amendments

22A. Written statements

22B. Notices of questions etc. during September

22C. Motions and amendments with a financial consequence for the House of Commons: Administration Estimate

22D. Select Committee statements

Motions for Bills and Select Committees

23. Motions for leave to bring in bills and nomination of select committees at commencement of public business

General debates

24. Emergency debates

24A. Topical debates

24B. Amendments to motions to consider specified matters

Motions for the Adjournment of the House

25. Periodic adjournments

Orders of the Day

26. Orders of the day to be read without question put

27. Order of disposing of orders of the day

Rules of Debate

28. Anticipation

29. Powers of chair to propose question

30. Debate on motion for the adjournment of the House

31. Questions on amendments

32. Selection of amendments

33. Amendments to address in answer to the Queen’s Speech

34. Debate on dilatory motion

35. Dilatory motion in abuse of rules of House

36. Closure of debate

37. Majority for closure or for proposal of question

Divisions

38. Procedure on divisions

39. Voting

39A. Voting by proxy

40. Division unnecessarily claimed

41. Quorum

41A. Deferred divisions

Order in the House

42. Irrelevance or repetition

42A. Sub judice

43. Disorderly conduct

44. Order in debate

45. Members suspended, etc., to withdraw from precincts

45A. Suspension of salary of Members suspended

46. Power of the Speaker to adjourn House or suspend sitting

47. Time limits on speeches

Public Money

48. Recommendation from Crown required on application relating to public money

49. Certain proceedings relating to public money

50. Procedure upon bills whose main object is to create a charge upon the public revenue

51. Ways and means motions

52. Money resolutions and ways and means resolutions in connection with bills

53. Application of public money standing orders to private bills, etc.

54. Consideration of estimates

55. Questions on voting of estimates, etc.

56. Consolidated Fund Bills

Public Bills

57. Presentation and first reading

57A. Bills brought from the Lords

58. Consolidation bills

59. Law Commission bills

60. Tax law rewrite bills

61. Bills which are prima facie hybrid

62. Amendment on second or third reading

63. Committal of bills not subject to a programme order

64. Notices of amendments, etc., to bills

65. Amendments in committee

66. Committee of whole House on bill

67. Postponement of preamble

68. Debate on clause or schedule standing part

69. Procedure on offer of new clause

70. When chair leaves chair without question put

71. Report of bill from committee of whole House

72. Consideration of bill as amended in committee of whole House

73. Report of bills committed to public bill committees, etc.

74. Re-committal of bill

75. Amendments on report

76. Debate on bill reported from public bill committee

77. Third reading

78. Lords amendments

79. Pecuniary penalties

80. Privilege (bills brought from the Lords)

80A. Carry-over of bills

80B. Carry-over (bills brought in upon a ways and means resolution)

81. Temporary laws

82. Business Committee

83. Allocation of time to bills

Programming of bills

83A. Programme motions

83B. Programming committees

83C. Programming sub-committees

83D. Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings in public bill committee or in committee of the whole House

83E. Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on consideration or third reading

83F. Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on consideration of Lords amendments

83G. Programme orders: conclusion of proceedings on further messages from the Lords

83H. Programme orders: reasons committee

83I. Programme orders: supplementary provisions

General Committees

84. General committees

84A. Public bill committees

85. Chairs of general committees

86. Nomination of general committees

87. Attendance of law officers and ministers in general committees

88. Meetings of general committees

89. Procedure in general committees

90. Second reading committees

91. [Repealed, 1 November 2006]

92. Consideration on report of certain bills by a general committee

93. Scottish Grand Committee (composition and business)

94. Scottish Grand Committee (questions for oral answer)

95. Scottish Grand Committee (short debates)

96. Scottish Grand Committee (ministerial statements)

97. Scottish Grand Committee (bills in relation to their principle)

98. Scottish Grand Committee (delegated legislation)

99. Scottish Grand Committee (substantive motions for the adjournment)

100. Scottish Grand Committee (sittings)

101. [Repealed, 1 November 2006]

102. Welsh Grand Committee (composition and business)

103. Welsh Grand Committee (questions for oral answer)

104. Welsh Grand Committee (short debates)

105. Welsh Grand Committee (ministerial statements)

106. Welsh Grand Committee (bills)

107. Welsh Grand Committee (matters relating exclusively to Wales)

108. Welsh Grand Committee (sittings)

109. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (composition and business)

110. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (questions for oral answer)

111. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (short debates)

112. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (ministerial statements)

113. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (bills in relation to their principle)

114. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (legislative proposals and other matters relating exclusively to Northern Ireland)

115. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (delegated legislation)

116. Northern Ireland Grand Committee (sittings)

117. Regional Affairs Committee

118. Delegated Legislation Committees

119. European Committees

120. Business sub-committees

Select committees, etc.

121. Nomination of select committees

122. Lists of Members serving on select committees

122A. Term limits for chairs of select committees

122B. Election of select committee chairs

122C. Resignation or removal of chairs of select committees

122D. Election of Chair of Backbench Business Committee

123. Sittings of committees

124. Quorum of select committees

125. Select committees (admission of the public)

126. Withdrawal of Members from meetings of select committees

127. Withdrawal of documents before select committee

128. Entry on formal minutes of select committee

129. Formal minutes to be reported

130. Entry on the record of evidence of select committee

131. Entry of questions asked

132. Administration of oath in select committee

133. Power to report opinion and observations

134. Select committees (reports)

135. Witnesses and evidence (select committees)

136. Publication of evidence (select committees)

137. Select committees (adjournment of the House)

137A. Select committees: power to work with other committees

138. Members (attendance at Lords select committees)

139. Administration Committee

140. Joint Committee on Consolidation, &c., Bills

141. Scrutiny of regulatory and legislative reform orders etc.

142. Localism Act 2011, etc.: scrutiny of certain orders and draft orders

143. European Scrutiny Committee

144. Finance Committee

145. Liaison Committee

145A. Petitions Committee

146. Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

147. Procedure Committee

148. Committee of Public Accounts

148A. Committee of Privileges

149. Committee on Standards

149A. Lay members of the Committee on Standards: appointment, etc.

150. Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards

150A. Independent Expert Panel

150B. Independent Expert Panel: Sub-panels

150C. Appointment of Independent Expert Panel Chair and members

150D. Motions consequent on the ICGS

150E. IEP recommendations for sanctions and the Recall of MPs Act 2015

151. Statutory Instruments (Joint Committee)

152. Select committees related to government departments

152A. Environmental Audit Committee

152B. Human rights (Joint Committee)

152C. Tax law rewrite (Joint Committee)

152D. House of Commons Members Estimate Committee

152E. Members of the Intelligence and Security Committee

152F. [Expired, April 2010]

152G. Committee on Members’ Expenses

152H. Planning: national policy statements

152I. National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)

152J. Backbench Business Committee

152K. Public Bodies: draft orders

152L. Free Trade Agreements and genocide

Public Petitions

153. Presentation of petitions

154. Time and manner of presenting petitions

155. Petition as to present personal grievance

156. Publishing of petitions and of ministerial replies

157. Petitions against imposition of tax

Parliamentary Papers

158. Presentation of command papers

159. Presentation of statutory instruments

160. Notification in respect of certain statutory instruments

Members of the public

161. Duties of Serjeant at Arms with respect to the public

162. Places to which the public are not admitted

163. Motions to sit in private

APPENDIX

Orders and Resolutions

Matters sub judice

Parliamentary privilege (application of legislation)

Scrutiny of European Business

Positions for which additional salaries are payable for the purposes of Section 4A(2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009

Notice period for amendments to public bills

Use of Welsh Language in Parliamentary Proceedings

Notification of the arrest of Members

Presentation of documents under paragraph 3(3)(b) or 17(3)(b) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Liaison Committee (Membership)

Independent determination of complaints of bullying and harassment

Confidentiality in the House’s Standards System

Sanctions in respect of the conduct of Members

Sanctions in respect of the conduct of Members (ICGS cases)

Temporary Standing Order

European Statutory Instruments Committee