House of Lords		Public Bills

Taking Part in Public Bills in the House of Lords

 

Stages of a Public Bill

A public bill must go through a series of different stages before it is passed by the Lords.

Introduction and First Reading

A bill is introduced into the Lords or brought from the Commons without notice being given on the Order Paper. This stage is formal and enables the bill to be printed and published. Bills are usually available from the Printed Paper Office and on the Internet on the working day following introduction. Any Explanatory Notes to the bill are usually available at the same time.

Second reading

This is the stage when the general principles of the bill are debated, and Peers give notice of the issues they are likely to want to probe by amendments at later stages.

This is the only stage of a public bill when Peers wishing to speak should put their names on the speakers' list kept in the Government Whips' Office (Room 12, Principal Floor, West Front) or telephone to do so (0171 219 3131). The speakers' list closes at 12 noon on the day of second reading or 6 pm on the preceding day if the House is sitting at 11 am. If Peers whose names are not on the list want to speak they can still do so before the winding-up speeches, provided they confine their remarks to not more than 4 minutes.

Committee

This stage provides for the most detailed consideration of a bill, when it is scrutinised clause by clause and when the first opportunity is provided for amendments to be discussed. At this stage only, Peers can speak as often as they wish. There are different variants of committee, but the most common, and the one invariably used for the most important bills, is a Committee of the whole House. The other procedures are briefly described at the end of this pamphlet. On important bills the committee stage often spreads over several days.

Bills for which no amendments are tabled in Committee have that stage discharged and proceed automatically to third reading.

A bill may be re-committed either in part or in its entirety at any time before third reading.

Report

On all bills which are amended in committee, and for the majority of important bills whether amended or not, detailed consideration is continued at the report stage. Issues which have been left over from committee may be resolved. The procedure is similar to committee, except that Peers may speak only once on each amendment, and only the mover of an amendment may speak after the Minister has wound up. Arguments made in committee should not be repeated at length on report. Amendments which are identical (or of identical effect) to amendments voted on by the proposer in Committee are inadmissible, and amendments which seek to reverse amendments voted on in Committee should be agreed only by unanimity. Again, on important bills it is common for report stage to be spread over several days.

Third Reading and Passing

The third reading and passing are the final stage of consideration. If the bill affects the interests of the Crown the Queen's consent is signified by a Minister who is also a Privy Counsellor, usually before third reading. (If the bill fundamentally affects the interests or prerogative of the Crown, Queen's consent is signified before the second reading or, in rare cases, is sought by Humble Address before the bill is introduced.) The third reading itself is taken formally, and is followed by consideration of any amendments, the procedure for which is the same as for report. Amendments reopening issues which have been decided at earlier stages cannot be tabled. Where a bill starting in the Lords involves expenditure out of voted funds or the imposition of a charge a privilege amendment is moved formally by the Peer in charge, after the other amendments have been dealt with, to avoid infringing the financial privilege of the Commons.

The motion "that this bill do now pass", which follows immediately after third reading or any amendments, should normally be taken formally. It is unusual for the combined stage to last for more than one day.

The Commons and consideration of Commons amendments

A bill introduced in the Lords is sent to the Commons in the form passed by the Lords. Any amendments subsequently made by the Commons to the bill must be considered by the Lords. This may take place at short notice. At this stage further amendments can be tabled but they must relate directly to the Commons amendments.

The procedure is reversed for bills which start in the Commons. In that case the Lords amendments are sent to the Commons for them to consider, and any further amendments made by the Commons to the Lords amendments are in turn considered by the Lords.

Information about timetabling of bills

Notice of the next stage of a public bill is always given in the Minute. The Minute often contains italic notes of the further days expected on that stage. This is usually confirmed in Forthcoming Business, issued by the Government Whips' Office.

Any queries about timetabling should be addressed in the first instance to the Government Whips' Office. It is normally possible to answer queries about when a particular clause or amendment is likely to be reached in committee or on report only shortly before the stage in question begins, though the Government Whips' Office and Public Bill Office will do their best to provide guidance.

Minimum intervals

The House has agreed that certain minimum intervals should normally be observed between the stages of public bills. These are:

Between introduction and second reading: 2 weekends.

Between second reading and committee: 14 calendar days.

Between committee and report: 14 calendar days for bills of considerable length and complexity (this period may be reduced for short and relatively simple bills, and can be done away with when bills are not amended in committee).

Between report and third reading: 3 sitting days.

Tabling of amendments

Amendments for committee may be tabled at any time after second reading. Amendments for subsequent stages may be tabled from the day following the conclusion of the previous stage, as soon as the amended bill has been published.

Amendments must be in writing and handed into or sent by post or fax to the Public Bill Office. The deadline for tabling amendments to be printed the following day is 5 pm. On Fridays the deadline for all amendments is 4 pm. In recesses amendments may be tabled with the Clerk in attendance between 10 am and 5 pm.

All amendments not tabled in person must be signed by the Peer or Peers in whose name they are to stand. Other than in exceptional circumstances the Public Bill Office does not accept amendments tabled orally or by telephone; but Peers may indicate by telephone that they wish to add their names to amendments. No Peer's name will be attached to any amendment unless the Public Bill Office has received explicit instructions from that Peer to that effect.

Pro forma sheets on which the text of amendments can be inserted are available from the Public Bill Office. Each amendment should be put on a separate sheet.

In general there is no advantage, and some disadvantage, in tabling amendments at the last moment. The House has agreed that late tabling of amendments is strongly to be deprecated since Peers have only a limited time to consider them and move amendments to them. Ministers will be less able to give a considered response and other members of the House may be unprepared, reducing the prospects of the amendment receiving a favourable response. Amendments which are printed for the first time on the Marshalled List or numbered Supplementary List or which are materially changed since their previous publication are marked with a star.

Admissibility of amendments

The following general rules apply.

The Public Bill Office is able to give advice on the form, wording and admissibility of amendments. Whether an amendment is in order can ultimately be decided only by the House itself. But if the Public Bill Office believes an amendment is not in order, it will notify the Peer concerned, and will not table the amendment unless the Peer insists on putting the matter to the House to decide.

Interests

Peers who have declared interests under category 1 or category 2 of the Register of Lords' Interests should not participate, whether by tabling amendments, speaking or voting, in proceedings on public bills relating to their declared interests. Any Peer in doubt should consult the Public Bill Office or the Registrar of Lords' Interests.

Printing and marshalling of amendments

Amendments handed in are printed overnight and published on the next working day, when they are available in the Printed Paper Office and on the Internet. All amendments to a particular bill tabled on the same day are printed in one daily sheet. They are not numbered at this stage. The names of Peers supporting an amendment are printed above it, up to a maximum of four, or five if the Peer in charge of the bill adds his name.

Marshalled lists

On or just before the first day of the stage in question, the various amendments are numbered and published as a "marshalled list", collated in the order in which they relate to the bill (subject to any instruction). In committee, marshalled lists are produced (currently on an experimental basis) on the working day before the stage is begun or resumed, and amendments handed in later are incorporated in a revised marshalled list or are published on numbered supplementary lists. At this stage italic notes giving notice of a Peer's intention to leave out a clause or schedule are not given a number when printed in the marshalled list.

When a stage is not completed in one day, any new amendments are printed on sheets supplementary to the marshalled list and further marshalled lists are published for each subsequent day.

Manuscript amendments

Whenever possible notice should be given of any amendments. But in committee and on report it is in order to move, as manuscript amendments, amendments of which notice has not been given. Occasionally a manuscript amendment is justified, for instance to correct an amendment already tabled, or when an amendment under consideration is objected to and it is clear that with slight alteration of language it would become acceptable. However the House has agreed that the moving of manuscript amendments should seldom be done. Manuscript amendments on third reading are prohibited.

Debating amendments

All amendments to be called

There is no selection of amendments in the Lords. Every amendment printed on a marshalled list or numbered supplementary list, and each manuscript amendment, is called unless notice is received that the amendment has been withdrawn, or it is pre-empted by an earlier amendment. An amendment which has been tabled need not be moved, but if none of the Peers named as supporters of the amendment moves it any other Peer may do so. Once an amendment has been moved, it can be withdrawn only by unanimous leave. If there is no such unanimity the question is put on the amendment.

If a Peer decides not to move an amendment, he simply says "Not moved". No explanatory speech should be made.

Grouping of amendments

In order to avoid repetition, related amendments are often grouped and debated together. Lists of such groupings are prepared by agreement between the Government Whips' Office and the Peers tabling the amendments, and are available in the Printed Paper Office, the Prince's Chamber and the Peers' Lobby, usually by about 2 pm on the day the amendments are to be debated (10 am when the House meets at 11 am). For Committee stages a draft list of groupings is available in the Government Whips' Office at 2.30 pm on the day before the stage is taken; for other stages the draft list is available in that Office from about 11 am on the day of the stage (earlier when the House sits at 11 am). The list of groupings usually covers only the amendments expected to be debated that day and it provides a helpful indication of the length of proceedings and of how the issues are to be covered.

Groupings are informal and not binding, but it may be inconvenient to other Peers if the groupings are departed from without advance notice. This makes it important for those Peers who have tabled amendments to contact the Government Whips' Office in advance to discuss the draft lists of groupings. For Committee stages this should be on the afternoon of the working day before that stage: for other stages it should be between 11 am and 12.30 pm on the day the amendments are to be debated (6 pm the night before when the House sits at 11 am). It can also be helpful to let the Whips' Office know in advance how far a Peer wants (or does not want) his amendments to be grouped.

Even if an amendment has been debated in an earlier group it must be called in its place in the marshalled list. Further debate may take place at this stage but this is not common. This is, however, the time to put an amendment to the vote unless there has been a division on an earlier amendment in the group. (It is unusual to vote on an amendment when a division has already taken place on an earlier amendment in the group, except when the later amendment is not consequential on the earlier amendment or when notice has been given in debate.)

Effect of groupings on third reading amendments. If a Peer believes that an amendment at committee or report stage has been wrongly grouped, he should make this clear in debate. This is because, if the group is voted on at either stage, a Peer may not be allowed to retable the amendment on third reading because of the rule concerning the reopening at that stage of issues previously decided.

Alternative committee procedures

The most common form of committee procedure is committee of the whole House. There are, however, a number of other procedures which either replace or are in addition to Committee of the whole House.

Committee stage scrutiny off the floor

Grand Committee

This is a committee of the whole House, meeting in a committee room (usually the Moses Room), but without divisions. Other business takes place at the same time in the Chamber. It is the most frequently used of the alternatives to Committee of the whole House.

Public Bill Committee

This procedure hands the conduct of the committee stage to a select committee. The procedure may be used for government bills of a technical and non-controversial nature. Peers who are not members of the Committee can participate in proceedings, but may not vote.

Special Public Bill Committee

This is a public bill committee, which can take written and oral evidence over a maximum period of 28 days of its appointment, before going through the bill clause by clause and considering amendments. Any bill can be scrutinised in this way, though it is usually reserved for technical measures which are not controversial in party political terms. All Peers can participate in the hearing of evidence and the consideration of amendments, but only members of the Committee can vote.

Notice of the committee stage proceedings in all these types of committee is given in the Minute and on Forthcoming Business. Any Peer can table amendments to any bill before one of these committees, and the amendments, marshalled lists and groupings are produced in the usual way. The Hansard of the committee stage proceedings is printed as an appendix to the daily part.

In each of these three cases, the next stage is report.

Additional committees

Select committee on a bill

This procedure allows detailed investigation by a select committee at any stage between second and third readings. The committee may take evidence and reports to the House on the provisions of the bill, recommending whether or not it should proceed. If recommending that the bill should proceed, the committee may make amendments if it sees fit, and the bill is re-committed to a committee of the whole House. All Peers can participate in the hearing of evidence.

Scottish Select Committee

This procedure, which is unlikely to be used following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, allows a select committee to take evidence, for a maximum period of 28 days from its appointment, on government bills relating to Scotland. Its purpose is to enable the committee to take evidence in Scotland. The committee may not make amendments to the bill.

In these two cases, notice of meetings is given on the committee sheet. The next stage is committee (on re-commitment).

Bills on which proceedings are limited

There are certain types of bills which it is not in order for the House to seek to amend, and other types where the opportunity is limited.

Finance, Consolidated Fund and Appropriation Bills

All of these are "Supply" bills. The Commons alone have the right to grant supply and the Lords cannot amend these bills. The committee stage is accordingly negatived. Consolidated Fund and Appropriation Bills are not debated at all.

Money Bills

If the Speaker certifies a Commons bill as a Money Bill the Lords are given a calendar month to pass the Bill. Though in theory this does not stop the Lords from amending such bills in the period, the Commons do not have to consider the Lords amendments. The committee stage of such bills in the Lords is accordingly almost invariably negatived.

Consolidation Bills

Consolidation bills do not change the law (unless there are special recommendations to do so from the Law Commissions). So any amendment seeking to do so is not in order. In general only amendments to improve clarity or drafting are admissible.

 
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