The House of Lords at Work:  continued

APPENDIX II

COMMITTEES ON PUBLIC BILLS IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS

Committee of the Whole House

This is the usual method of proceeding with a bill after Second Reading and a bill is committed to a Committee of the Whole House unless the House otherwise directs.

Committee off the Floor

A recent innovation is a Committee (of unrestricted membership) off the floor of the House. It was used first during the passage of the Children (Scotland) Bill in 1995 and has been used since for such bills as the Reserve Forces Bill [H.L.] and the Deer (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill [H.L.]. The Committee considers amendments as if it were sitting in the Chamber, but no divisions may take place. Other business on a different subject matter may be conducted at the same time in the Chamber. All Lords are free to attend and participate.

Public Bill Committee

This differs from the Committee off the floor in that a limited number of Lords are selected to conduct the Committee stage. The procedure is normally used for Government bills of a technical and non-controversial nature. Lords not named of the Committee are entitled to participate in proceedings, but may not vote. Afterwards, the bill proceeds to Report stage.

Special Public Bill Committee

As for Public Bill Committees, but the Committee may take written and oral evidence within the first 28 days of its appointment. After hearing evidence, the Special Public Bill Committee in effect becomes a Public Bill Committee.

Select Committee

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. In 1995 the Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Bill [H.L.] was committed to a select committee after its Second Reading.

Scottish Select Committee

This experimental procedure allows a select committee to take evidence on Scottish bills, The committee may take evidence in Scotland, and presents its evidence to the House before commitment to one of the committees described above. The committee may not make amendments to the bill. Lords not of the committee may attend and participate in meetings irrespective of location. The Deer (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill [H.L.] and the Education (Scotland) Bill [H.L.] were recently committed to Scottish Select Committees.

 

© Parliamentary copyright 1996
Prepared 23 October 1996