Guide to Parliamentary Work

4. Parliamentary Calendar and Sitting Times

4.1 The time between one general election and the next is known as a parliament. The 1911 Parliament Act sets a maximum period of five years but the Prime Minister can seek a dissolution of parliament at any time. Parliaments are separated by a period known as dissolution. A parliament will further be broken down into parliamentary sessions – usually expressed as the ‘2006-07 session’ – each beginning with the State Opening (which includes the Queen’s Speech). In non election years these normally run from the State Opening in November/December until prorogation, usually the following November. The first session of a new parliament will often be longer than normal if the Election has taken place in spring or summer, as it will usually continue until the next autumn. Likewise, the final session of a parliament is often a shorter session, with the parliament being dissolved in time for a spring general election.

Annual Calendar

4.2 Each session is punctuated by a number of recesses when the Houses do not sit. The usual calendar for a parliamentary session is as follows:

4.3 The calendar is set by the government, although the individual recess periods are formally agreed by the House of Commons on non-debatable motions laid by the government usually about a fortnight in advance of the proposed break. The 13 Fridays that the House of Commons sits to consider Private Members Bills are also proposed by the government and again agreed by the House, through the laying of a motion.

4.4 Since 2002, the calendar setting out the sitting days of the House of Commons in the coming parliamentary session has been announced and issued by the Leader of the House of Commons, usually during the spill-over period following the summer recess but before the end of the session. This helps parliament and government with its long term planning but is always issued on the understanding that dates are subject to the progress of business.

4.5 The House of Lords tends to sit along similar lines to the House of Commons, with some small variations and subject to change by the ‘usual channels’ (informal contact between whips and business managers from the political parties) in the Lords. This is announced by the Leader of the House of Lords or the Lords Chief Whip.

Recesses

4.6 Periods when the Houses are not sitting are commonly known as recesses, although all of them except prorogation are more correctly termed adjournments. The last sitting day before a recess period will often be marked in the House of Commons by a ‘Pre-recess Adjournment Debate’ (PRAD). The last day may also be marked by a change of sitting times. For example, when the House rises on a Tuesday, a motion may be tabled giving effect to the earlier sitting hours of a normal Wednesday. Westminster Hall debates may also be cancelled. No debates are held but Select Committees and Grand Committees may meet and conduct business. Papers may continue to be laid. 

4.7 In general, Parliamentary Questions (PQs) cannot be tabled in either House during recess periods, except for a very short period before the end of a recess and for those days in September specifically designated by motion during the summer recess. The Table Office, which is the office which handles the tabling of Parliamentary Questions (and other motions) on behalf of Members, regularly issues guidance to government on the aspects of its operation during recess periods.

Prorogation

4.8 Prorogation is the formal end of each session. The date is chosen by the Business Managers (the Leader of the House and Chief Whip – can be applied to both Houses) shortly before the session ends. This allows flexibility in planning the legislative programme. During the period of prorogation neither the House nor any Committee may meet. It is possible to lay certain documents before Parliament during prorogation (e.g. SIs and Command Papers), but not during a dissolution. It is also important for Parliamentary Clerks as it marks the period when parliamentary business such as Parliamentary Questions, Early Day Motions and Private Members Bills ‘fall’ or ‘die’. Government Bills also fall if they have not received Royal Assent, unless they are subject to a carry over motion. 

Recalls of Parliament

4.9 The procedure for a recall of Parliament is set out in Commons Standing Order No. 13 and Lords Standing Order 17. The Speaker makes the final decision on whether Parliament should be recalled, but this is only after receiving representations from Ministers that the public interest requires it. Inevitably, this request is co-ordinated by the Prime Minister’s Office although the request is on behalf of the Government as a whole. Standing Orders also provide for similar arrangements to operate in the House of Lords through the Lord Speaker.

General Elections

Maximum term

4.10 When a Government is elected it is for a maximum term of five years from the first meeting of a Parliament. In practice, the Prime Minister seeks the dissolution of Parliament from The Queen before that date. The date of a General Election is entirely a matter for the Prime Minister and he will take into account a number of factors when reaching a decision.

4.11 The reason for holding an election usually stems from a desire to obtain a fresh mandate but a Government also needs the confidence of the House of Commons. In 1979 a General Election followed the defeat of the Government on a motion “That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government”.

Dissolution procedure

4.12 When the Prime Minister announces the date for the election he must also decide when Parliament will be dissolved. He can, if he so wishes, seek the dissolution immediately in which case any and all outstanding legislation is lost. More likely, there will be an interval between the announcement and the dissolution.

4.13 During this interval, usually referred to as the “wash-up” period, which might only be a few days (but possibly longer) the Government will decide what its priorities are and seek the co-operation the Opposition in getting legislation through. In doing so there will invariably be sacrifices to be made. Some Bills might be lost completely, others might be progressed quickly but in a much-shortened form. A lot will depend on where the Bills are in the legislative process and whether or not they are controversial.

4.14 The day of the dissolution is day 0 and the day of the election is day 17, excluding weekends and public holidays. If the Prime Minister wishes there to be a longer period between the dissolution and polling day Parliament may be prorogued in advance of the dissolution.

4.15 Polling day is traditionally a Thursday but there is no legal requirement for it to be so.

Period of election

4.16 Once the date of the election is announced the period of election commences immediately. Special rules apply in a period of election which cover such issues as the making of Government announcements, dealing with enquiries, political activities of civil servants, use of Government property etc. Following the announcement, guidance is issued to Departments by the Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service and this is made available to staff.

MPs and Ministers

4.17 When Parliament is dissolved MPs cease to be MPs and Departments treat all prospective Parliamentary candidates on an equal footing. Former MPs are no longer able to use the facilities of the House of Commons. Ministers continue to hold office until the outcome of the election is known.

Outstanding business

4.18 Once an announcement is made that a General Election is to take place steps are taken in the Department to clear all outstanding parliamentary business:

• Bills – Discussions are held with the Business Managers in Parliament about the action required to get outstanding Bills through their remaining stages. The Government usually needs the agreement of the Opposition to get Bills through in a much reduced timescale and concessions are often made (ie a controversial clause in a Bill may be removed). Any Bills that are not concluded are lost.
• Statutory Instruments – Where affirmative instruments have been laid but not debated, action is taken to seek to get them debated and approved. If they are not debated before the dissolution they can be re-activated in the new parliament. Where negative instruments have been laid and made before the dissolution the coming into force date is not affected.
• Parliamentary Questions – Steps are taken to get all outstanding PQs answered.

Outcome of the General Election.

4.19 The leader of the political party which wins the largest number of seats in the General Election is invited by The Queen to form a Government. The Prime Minister first appoints a Cabinet and then moves on to fill other ministerial posts.

The new Parliament

4.20 The date when the new Parliament first meets would have been announced when the previous Parliament was dissolved. The first business on the new Parliament is the election of the Speaker. This is followed by the swearing in of Members. This process takes several days and is followed by the State Opening of Parliament by The Queen.

The Parliamentary Week

4.21 Sittings of the House of Commons are set out in Standing Orders Numbers 9-13. The current parliamentary week is shown below

The Parliamentary Day in the Commons

4.22 The order of business on any given day is taken in a prescribed order but no two days are ever the same. Before the start of business the Speaker will meet with the Deputy Speakers and relevant senior House officials to go through the day’s business and, importantly from a Parliamentary Clerk’s point of view, make a decision on any application for Urgent Questions or urgent debates under Standing Order No. 24. Following the Speaker’s procession to the Chamber, the House sits for Prayers. Prayers are held in private and last for about three minutes. On their conclusion, there is an opportunity for various procedures to take place, but these are rare. They include any report (from a whip) of the Queen’s answer to an address (for example the ‘humble address’ agreed by the House during Queen’s speech debate). The Speaker may also make formal communications regarding such issues as the death or imprisonment of a sitting MP. A motion for a new writ, the device triggering a by-election may also be moved, normally by the Chief Whip of the relevant party. Unopposed private business motions, which are not debatable, may also be moved. A motion for an unopposed return, may be made at this time, providing full parliamentary privilege protection for the reports from inquiries set up by the Government e.g. Scott report 1996 and Hutton Inquiry 2004.

4.23 An hour of the day is then set aside for Question Time. This allows the House to have a set period to question every government department, the dates for these sessions are set out by the House in a published rota.

4.24 Following Question Time, an Urgent Question may be asked, with the leave of the Speaker. If allowed, this would normally last about 30 minutes, although supplementaries are at the Speaker’s discretion. Oral Statements by a Government Minister follow Question time and any allowed Urgent Questions. Standing Order No. 21(2) also allows the Leader of the House of Commons to announce the arrangements for forthcoming business of the House in reply to a question from a member of the opposition front bench every sitting Thursday. When other important Government oral statements are planned for a Thursday, the Leader of the House may decide to allow these to take precedence over the Business Question. The Business Question is then taken afterwards and itself becomes a statement. The format is otherwise unaffected.

4.25 Following statements, any newly elected Member of the House (following a by-election) is introduced to the House and swears the oath or makes the affirmation. Also at this time the House may hear an application for an urgent debate under Standing Order No. 24. If the Speaker consents to an application being heard, the Member who has applied has three minutes to make their case. If the House agrees the application, either unanimously, or by forty Members rising in their places in support, or following a division (if not fewer than 10 Members rise in support), then a three hour debate takes place (generally the next day). It is relatively rare for the Speaker to consent to requests for applications to be heard on the floor of the House.

4.26 At this point it is not unusual for Members to raise points of order with the Speaker. Then follows a slot for ceremonial speeches (for example the death of a former Speaker) or for personal statements by either Members or Ministers. These may be to make apologies or are sometimes used by Cabinet Ministers to give their reasons for leaving Government to the House. These are in the gift of the Speaker and are not subject to any questioning or debate.

4.27 At this time the House moves onto ‘public business’. The preliminary business that may be considered before the House moves onto the main business includes the presentation of Bills. This may be by a Member, under Standing Order No. 57 or by a Minister under Standing Order No. 50 or 57. Further motions may also be moved at this point; including business motions and motions put forthwith (a full list is shown in DODs Handbook of Parliamentary Procedure). Finally (on a Tuesday and Wednesday)¹ a Member may move a motion for leave to bring in a Bill – the ten-minute rule motion. A ten minute speech opposing the bill may also happen followed, if necessary, by a division.

4.28 The main business then commences with the orders of the day and notices of motions, which appear in sequential order on the Order paper. This includes the stages of a Bill and debates, including debates arising on an opposition motion.

4.29 If business is agreed (usually by informal arrangement) as lasting half a day then this ‘half-way’ point is regarded as arising at about 7pm on a Monday or Tuesday, 4pm on a Wednesday and 3pm on a Thursday.

4.30 The ‘moment of interruption’, which signals the cut-off or ending of main business, occurs at 10pm on Monday and Tuesday, 7pm on Wednesday and 6pm on Thursday, unless the business being discussed is exempted. There are various devices for exempting business, and some business is automatically exempted including Statutory Instruments and European Union documents. Following any votes or divisions, public petitions may be presented.

4.31 There then follows a 30 minute ‘end-of-day’ adjournment debate to allow backbenchers to raise issues of concern. These are different to other debates which may occur during main business on a technical motion ‘that this House do now adjourn’. The latter is simply a device for a debate to take place without having a substantive motion to divide upon. If the daily adjournment debate starts early it may continue until the moment of interruption and then be renewed for a further 30 minutes. If the Member successful in the ballot is not in their place at the start of the debate then the motion will be moved and the House adjourned.

The Parliamentary Day in the Lords

4.32 The order of business on any given day is taken in a prescribed order but no two days are ever the same. On Monday and Tuesday, the House sits at 2.30pm and usually rises at 10.00pm. On Wednesdays the House sits at 3.00pm, rising by about 10.00pm. On Thursday, Friday (and the last day before recess) the House sits at 11.00am and any business should be completed by 7.00pm. On Fridays the House sits at 10.00am and usually completes business by 3pm. On days when the House is considering legislation, business is usually interrupted for an hour for ‘dinner break’ business at about 7.30pm (Mondays to Wednesdays) or ‘lunch break’ business at about 1pm (Thursdays), where alternative business (usually a short debate) is taken. The main business then resumes after the dinner/lunch break.

4.33 Following the Lord Speaker’s procession to the Chamber, the House kneels for Prayers. Prayers are held in private and usually last between 3 and 5 minutes. On their conclusion, there is a section of time allocated for preliminary business. This usually takes less than 10 minutes but can take much longer. This can include any of the following procedures - however it is rare for many of these to take place: Ceremony of introduction and oaths of allegiance of new members (this can also take place at the end of business); Lord Speaker’s Leave of absence; messages and answers from the Crown; Royal Assent (or at any convenient time during sitting); addresses of congratulation or sympathy to the Crown; tributes; formal statements from the Lord Speaker and any Personal statements from members.

4.34 The business starts with a short question time for half an hour. Four oral questions, formerly known as ‘starred questions’, are taken. The subject matter of these questions is not restricted and questions are directed at the Government as a whole, not at specific government departments on set days (as in the Commons.) Constant up-to-date briefing is required by the relevant Government Lords Ministers. Constant communication is necessary between the relevant Ministerial private offices and parliamentary branch. Starred questions are allocated on a “first come first served” basis, subject to certain rules. The fourth question on each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is a “Topical Question” chosen by ballot. The timings for the Topical Questions ballots are:

• For Tuesday’s Topical Question: ballot drawn on preceding Friday at 2pm
• For Wednesday’s Topical Question: ballot drawn previous Monday at 2pm
• For Thursday’s Topical Debate: ballot drawn previous Tuesday at 2pm.

The Government Whips Office in the Lords notifies Parliamentary Branches of the results of the Topical Questions ballot.

4.35 Private notice questions (PNQs) are urgent oral questions. The Lord Speaker decides on their admissibility. They are very rarely allowed in the Lords but, when they are, they come immediately after oral questions.

4.36 Any business statements follow. They indicate the limitations on speaking time to be observed in time-limited debates, and may also indicate the hour of adjournment for dinner or other timings for business during the day.

4.37 Ministerial statements in theory come next. Most statements are made in the Commons first and then repeated in the Lords as soon after as is convenient. On Mondays and Tuesdays this is at a convenient moment after 3.30pm, on Wednesdays it is shortly after 3.30pm and Thursdays the timing is variable but usually around lunch time. In the Lords, brief comments and questions for clarification from the opposition front benches and from back-benchers of all parties are allowed for a total period not exceeding forty minutes following the end of the statement.

4.38 Consideration of a Lords repeat statement will be given if a Commons statement has been agreed by the Leader of the House of Commons Office, the Commons Chief Whips office and Number 10. The usual channels in the Lords (Leader of the Lords, Lords Whip and other party whips) will discuss whether the statement is to take place and timings. The Lords Government Whips’ Office will then confirm with the Parliamentary Branch by 12:00pm whether the statement is to be repeated, and what time in the day. (Confirmation will be by 10:00am when the House sits in the morning). Apart from statements by Departments where the Secretary of State is a member of the House of Lords the statement repeat cannot start until the Commons Minister has begun the statement.

4.39 The substantive business then begins. Discussion of private legislation comes first, followed by Business of the House motions, which are usually moved by the Leader of the House and signify a change in the order of business. When required, Chairman of Committees’ business follows; this is usually feedback and discussion of any reports of the House Committee. Discussion of public bills, delegated legislation and reports from select committees comes next, followed by other motions

4.40 Questions for Short Debate (QSDs) (Formerly Unstarred Questions): Any questions for debate that have been tabled for oral answer by government are taken either during the dinner or lunch break, or at the end of business. These are time-limited to one hour (during dinner/lunch break) and one and a half hours (if they occur at the end of business). They are similar to adjournment debates in the Commons.

4.41 On Thursdays from the beginning of the session to the end of June, the order of business differs slightly as general motions for debate have precedence over bills and other business. Thursday is therefore a day of debates and any other business comes last. From 1 July to the end of the session, bills take precedence over general motions.

1. After the fifth Wednesday of a session and on Monday if the Tuesday or Wednesday is budget day.