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Last updated: 08 July 2009
36.1 In the Lords, Bills are usually considered either on the floor of the House (Committee of the whole House), or in a committee room (Grand Committee). A motion is moved after Second Reading to commit a Bill to a particular type of Committee. This is decided through the usual channels, although the motion can be voted upon and the final decision is for the House.
36.2 In both Committee of the whole House and Grand Committee, all members can attend, table amendments and speak. The proceedings in Grand Committee are identical to those in a Committee of the whole House except that no votes take place – decisions to alter the Bill may only be made with unanimity. Thus when a Question is put, a single voice against an amendment causes the amendment to be negatived and amendments can only be made by general agreement. If there is opposition to an amendment, it should be withdrawn in Grand Committee, to enable the House to decide the matter on Report.
36.3 In addition, Bills can, in principle, be sent to a Public Bill Committee or a Special Public Bill Committee, although these are extremely rare. The Government Whips' Office will be able to advise on procedures in each case. Bills which have been considered under these special procedures are not then recommitted to a Committee of the whole House, but proceed directly to Report stage on the floor of the House.
36.4 Bill team members should talk to the Clerk of the Committee as they normally find this very useful. Contact the House of Lords Public Bill Office.
36.5 The Committee stage in the Lords is not subject to a Programme Motion and its length cannot easily be controlled by the Government. The length of Committee will be decided through the usual channels but after further discussion can be extended.
36.6 Bill teams should read the main section of this guidance on amendments which describes what sort of Government amendments are likely to be agreed to and how to obtain collective Cabinet agreement for amendments to Bills. The Bill team must ensure that any Government amendments have been collectively agreed and are drafted in time to be tabled at least one sitting week in advance of the debate.
36.7 Any Government amendments needed in the Lords should be brought forward for Committee or if absolutely necessary for Report – as the practice of the House is normally to resolve major points of difference by the end of Report stage and to use Third Reading for tidying up the Bill. Government amendments at Third Reading are limited to minor and technical amendments.
36.8 The procedure for tabling amendments is broadly the same for both Committee of the whole House and Grand Committee. Amendments may appear in the names of up to four Members of the House of Lords (or five if the Peer in charge of the Bill adds his/her name). Government amendments should be tabled in the name of the Government Peer in charge, but another Minister may nevertheless move them. It is therefore unnecessary for the name of more than one Minister to appear against an amendment.
36.9 Amendments put down by peers are not included in the Vote Bundle as in the Commons, but are printed in the House of Lords Bill series, bearing the number of the last print of the Bill with suffixes, e.g. HL Bill X (a), (b), etc. These lists are published by the Stationery Office (TSO) and marshalled lists are available the morning before the date fixed for Committee. All daily sheets and marshalled lists are available on the website of the Government Whips' Office in the Lords [External website] on the day of their publication.
36.10 Any amendments which have not previously been circulated are “starred” in the marshalled lists; but this does not mean, as in the Commons, that they may not be called. Amendments must be relevant to the subject matter of the Bill and to the clause or schedule to which they relate. Manuscript amendments may be moved at any stage except on Third Reading, but their use is discouraged.
36.11 The system for numbering amendments in the Lords differs from that in the Commons, and needs to be carefully managed to avoid confusion. In the Commons, amendments are numbered consecutively as they are tabled. While the numbers do not bear any relation to the position of the amendment in the Bill, amendments do retain their number on subsequent reprints. In the Lords, amendments are only numbered in the marshalled list. Amendments published before the publication of the first marshalled list, and then in between publication of subsequent marshalled lists, are not numbered. It is therefore useful if the Bill team assign them temporary ‘dummy’ numbers in order to track them, until they are published with their numbers in the marshalled list. When the marshalled list is printed, the Bill team will then need to convert the dummy numbers, and amend notes on amendments accordingly.
36.12 In the first marshalled list, amendments are simply numbered based on the order in which the Bill will be considered. However, subsequent marshalled lists will slot new amendments into their place but will not continue numbering from where the first list finished. For example, amendments between 20 and 21 will be numbered 20A, 20B, etc. Any amendment between 20A and 20B will be numbered 20AA. If there is an amendment between amendments 20 and 20A, it will be numbered 20ZA, the Z signifying that it comes before the amendment with the next letter in sequence.
36.13 Amendments can be tabled between 10am and 5pm, and in recess between 10am and 4pm. They are printed overnight and are available from the Printed Paper Office the next morning.
36.14 The same procedure for preparing notes on amendments applies as in the Commons and the Parliamentary Clerk will distribute them.
Procedure in Committee of the whole House
36.15 The Lord in charge moves “that the House do now resolve itself into a Committee upon the Bill”. This motion is usually taken formally, though it may be used occasionally for discussion of the procedure to be adopted in Committee or to express disapproval. When the House has agreed to go into Committee, the Lord Speaker (or a deputy) leaves the Woolsack and goes to the Table opposite the Clerks to preside over the Committee.
36.16 The question “that clause X stand part of the Bill” is put in respect of each clause after any amendments to that clause have been dealt with. This gives the opportunity to debate the clause generally, or to raise any points on it which are not the subject of amendments. Any Member of the Lords is free to speak on the question that a clause stand part, whether or not s/he has given notice, but Lords will generally indicate their intention to speak by means of an italic note stating: “The Lord X gives notice of his intention to oppose the Question that Clause/Schedule Y stand part of the Bill”, which appears in the appropriate place in the Marshalled List.
36.17 The order in which the Bill is considered in Committee of the whole House is:
36.18 The rule that Members of the Lords may only speak once to any question does not apply in Committee of the whole House (though it does on other stages of the Bill). New clauses and Schedules are treated like other amendments, e.g. the Lord puts down an amendment “after clause X insert the following new clause ...” and the motion is simply that the amendment be agreed to. The place of the new clause or Schedule proposed is therefore determined by the Lord proposing it.
36.19 Where there are a number of clauses with no amendments the Chairman may put the question that the whole groups of clauses stand part en bloc, but any Lord who wishes to speak on a particular clause may object.
36.20 Procedure in Grand Committee is very similar to that in Committee of the whole House. The main differences are:
Variation in order of amendments
36.21 To take clauses and schedules to a Bill in a different order than in the order of the printed Bill (e.g. Schedule 1 straight after clause 1), a motion for an instruction should be tabled as soon as possible after Second Reading in the name of the Peer in charge of the Bill. This motion will set out the proposed order. Since new clauses and new Schedules are taken at the place where it is desired to insert them in the Bill (e.g. “after clause X”) and not at the end (as in the Commons), they need not be mentioned in the motion for an instruction.
36.22 The Motion is drafted by Parliamentary Counsel on the department's instructions and tabled by the Whips. Parliamentary Counsel will normally send any draft order of consideration motion for Lords Committee to the Whips before Second Reading, so that the motion may be taken on the day of Second Reading immediately after the motion to commit, if desired.
Committee on a Money or Supply Bill
36.23 Where the Bill is a Finance Bill or is certified by the Speaker of the House of Commons as a Money Bill1, the Committee stage is usually negatived after Second Reading. The Bill then awaits Third Reading, there being no requirement for a Report stage.
36.24 Committee stage may be discharged altogether if there are no notices of amendments and no Member of the Lords have indicated a wish to speak on the Bill in Committee. Notice of a motion to discharge the Committee stage must appear on the Order Paper; the Government Whips' Office will see to this. This is a great incentive for departments to ensure that no Government amendments are made to uncontentious Bills in the Lords. If the Committee is discharged, there is also no Report stage.
1 [1] See Section 1(2) and (3) of the Parliament Act 1911.