Business of the House

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:35 am on 25 March 2010.

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Photo of Harriet Harman Harriet Harman Chair, Modernisation of the House of Commons Committee, Minister of State (Government Equalities Office), The Leader of the House of Commons , Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee, Party Chair, Labour Party, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 11:35, 25 March 2010

The business for next week is as follows:

Monday 29 March-Continuation of the Budget debate.

Tuesday 30 March-Conclusion of the Budget debate, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Personal Care at Home Bill.

The business for the week commencing 5 April will include:

Tuesday 6 April-Second Reading of the Digital Economy Bill [ Lords ], followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Equality Bill.

Wednesday 7 April-Consideration in Committee and remaining stages of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill [ Lords ].

Thursday 8 April-A general debate on international development.

Friday 9 April-The House will not be sitting.

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Owen Blacker
Posted on 26 Mar 2010 5:38 pm (Report this annotation)

The timing of the Digital Economy Bill in particular has been a matter of some controversy. Scheduling the Second Reading of a Bill before the dissolution of Parliament (widely expected to be later on 6 April) means that a Bill is eligible to be pushed through the "wash-up" process (see page 3 of http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc... PDF) without having undergone the Committee, Report and Third Reading stages.

As some parts of the Bill are particularly controversial (involving disconnecting from the Internet people accused of copyright infringement) but have vague cross-party support, there is concern (notably from the Open Rights Group: http://www.openrightsgroup.org/ ) that these parts of the Bill could make Royal Assent without any further opportunity for debate — and, thus, no debate at all in the House of Commons.

(Disclaimer: I am a member of the Advisory Council of the Open Rights Group.)