SITTINGS
DATES AND TIMES
16.
Parliamentary sessions
usually run from November to the following October: this timetable
changes only when there is a general election. The House of Lords
sits on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and occasionally
on Fridays, with breaks of 24 weeks at Christmas, 1-2 weeks at
Easter and Whitsun, 712 weeks in the summer (AugustOctober) and
a few days between sessions. During Session 1994-95 the House
of Lords sat on 142 days spread over 36 weeks, not counting days
on which the House sat for judicial business only (see below,
paragraph 53). During 1994-95 there were no "swearingin
days" (that is to say days on which the House sat only to
enable Lords to take the Oath of Allegiance) as swearing-in days
occur only at the beginning of the first session of a new Parliament
following a general election. Swearing-in days count as sitting
days for certain purposes, but no legislative business may be
done.
17. The House sits at 2.30 p.m. on MondaysWednesdays, 3.00 p.m.
on Thursdays and 11.00 a.m. on Fridays. During Session 1994-95
the average length of a sitting was 6 hours 22 minutes; on 46
sitting days out of 142 the House sat beyond 10.00 p.m. It is
most unusual for the House to sit all night; this last happened
on 28th June 1988 during the Report stage of the Education Reform
Bill, when the House sat from 2.30 p.m. to 8.47 a.m. on the following
day.
18. Since 1985, the sittings of the House have been recorded
for television broadcast. The coverage is provided by an independent
company on contract. Material is available to all bona fide
broadcasting companies who contribute to the costs. Matters of
selection and editorial control are left to the broadcasters,
subject to the ultimate control of the House.
DAILY ATTENDANCE FIGURES
19.
Average daily attendance during
Session 1994-95 was 376. Although the potentially active membership
of the House was 1037 at the end of that session, the "working
House", if one defines this as those who attend at least
one sitting day in three, consisted of 452 members. Of these,
226 were "created peers" (i.e. life peers (219) or hereditary
peers of first creation(7)), three were Law Lords, 205 had inherited
peerages and one was a bishop; 58 out of the total were women.
187 potential attenders did not attend the House at all.
20. Attendances and length of sittings have both risen over the
last 30 years. But while the length of sittings has levelled
out over the last ten years, attendances continue to rise:
| Session | Sitting
Days | Average Length | Average
Attendance |
| 1959-60 | 113 | 3 hrs 59 mins | 136
|
| 1964-65 | 124 | 4 hrs 47 mins | 194
|
| 1971-72 | 141 | 5 hrs 46 mins | 250
|
| 1975-76 | 155 | 6 hrs 15 mins | 275
|
| 1980-81 | 143 | 6 hrs 43 mins | 296
|
| 1985-86 | 165 | 7 hrs 21 mins | 317
|
| 1994-95 | 142 | 6 hrs 22 mins | 376 |
