Passage of a Bill

3 Key excerpts on "Passage of a Bill"

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  English Legal System

  • Jacqueline Martin(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  3     A Private Member’s Bill is one which is introduced by a backbench MP. There are three ways in which this can be done:

  •    drawing a position in the ballot held in each Parliamentary session;

  •    under Standing Order No 39;

  •    under the ten-minute rule (Standing Order No 10).

  4     The time in Parliament for Private Members’ Bills is very limited. Unless the Bill is supported by the Government it only has a small chance of becoming law.

  3.2.2  Types of Bill

  1     Public Bill – one which relates to matters that affect the general public; most Government Bills will be Public Bills.

  2     Private Bill – one which relates to the powers and interests of certain private individuals or institutions (eg University College London Act 1996). The procedure for a Private Bill is slightly different to that for a Public Bill, with the Committee stage being the most important aspect, while the Second and Third Readings are more of a formality.

  3     Hybrid Bill – one with features of both a Public and a Private Bill (eg Channel Tunnel Bill 1986–87).

  3.2.3  Passing a Bill

  A Bill may be started in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, but it has to go through the same procedure in each House and pass all stages of the legislative process in order to become law.

  1     First Reading – a formality at which the title of the Bill is read out and a day named for the Second Reading.

  2     Second Reading – the main debate on the principles of the Bill.

  3     Committee Stage – a consideration of each clause of the Bill.

  4     Report Stage – a report to the whole House of amendments proposed by the Committee stage.

  5     Third Reading – the final vote on the Bill; there will be a further debate about the Bill only if at least six members request it.

  6     The other house – if the Bill started in the House of Commons, then the above five stages are carried out in the House of Lords, and vice versa.

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  Democratic Legislative Institutions: A Comparative View

  A Comparative View

  • David M. Olson(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Appendix A

  Stages of Legislative Procedure

        Each parliament develops a series of steps through which legislation proceeds to regularize the work of the parliament and also to ensure full and fair consideration of proposed bills.

  The usual pattern among democratic legislatures is that the major legislative steps alternate: floor, committee, floor (Table A.1 ). Bills are “introduced” formally to the parliament “on the floor.” They are then referred to committees, and from committees, are “reported” back to the floor for authoritative debate and voting. In bicameral parliaments, this sequence is repeated separately in each chamber, and then additional steps are required to reconcile differences between the chambers. If the chief executive exercises independent judgment to sign legislation, still additional steps are required to permit the legislature to “override” the executive’s veto.

  It is ironic that the final and authoritative steps, debate and voting by the whole chamber, are the most ritualistic and predictable portion of the entire procedure. Ritualistic, in that the presiding officer repeats certain phrases at stipulated points in the proceedings, particularly at the end and beginning, and during times to vote. If the presiding officer does not pronounce the correct words at the proper times, the whole chamber is thrown into disarray.

  These final floor stages are also the most predictable for two reasons. First, the main arguments, and the leaders who present the arguments, have already been active at the earlier committee stage. Second, party-disciplined voting usually ratifies the agreements made earlier by the party leaders on the specific bill under consideration.

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  Making British Law

  Committees in Action

  • Louise Thompson(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Second reading is essentially a debating stage, in which the general principles of the bill are discussed. The debate is opened by the government minister responsible for the bill, who moves ‘that the Bill be now read a second time’ before making a speech. Following an immediate response from their ministerial counterpart on the opposition benches, any Member is permitted to make a contribution. The debate usually focuses on the broader aspects of the bill, though if a section of the bill is particularly controversial, debate may focus heavily upon it. Those participating may also suggest changes they wish to see made to a bill during this debate, but they are unable to formally move any amendments at this stage. There is a division (vote) at the end of the debate, with MPs walking through the ‘aye’ or ‘no’ lobbies in the traditional fashion. If successful, the bill has passed its second reading. The vote will usually be followed by a programme motion, setting out the timetable for the future consideration of the bill and, if necessary, a resolution authorising government expenditure or the raising of a tax or charge (Rogers and Walters 2015, p. 187). For instance, following the second reading of the Childcare Payments Bill (2014) a ways and means resolution was passed ‘to authorise the restriction of relief from income tax in respect of the provision for an employee of childcare, or vouchers for obtaining childcare, under a scheme operated by or on behalf of the employer’ (HC Debates 14 July 2014, c641).

  It is following its second reading that a bill moves to its committee stage . This usually takes place within a small committee now known as a public bill committee (PBC), though minor, controversial or constitutional bills may receive their committee stage on the floor of the Commons chamber, in what is known as a Committee of the whole House. An even smaller number of bills may be referred to a specially established select committee for scrutiny such as the Adoption and Children Bill (2000–01), or exceptionally to an existing select committee responsible for scrutinising the work of government departments. It has already been noted that select committees are occasionally used for pre-legislative scrutiny.

  For bills taking the more common route, a PBC of between 16 and 50 MPs will be constituted. The appointment of Members to the committee lies in the hands of the party whips and its composition must broadly reflect the strength of the main parties in the House as a whole. The committee now begins the process of scrutinising the bill on a line-by-line basis. It may add, amend or remove words, phrases, clauses or schedules. Some, but not all, bill committees will take oral evidence from expert witnesses at the start of their proceedings, usually for three or four sittings. When the committee has finished scrutinising a bill, or when there is simply no more time left in the programme in which to scrutinise it, the question is put that the bill be reported back to the House. If the bill has been amended in any way in committee it will be reported ‘as amended’.

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