Parliament Acts
House of Lords

Lord Acton (Labour)

To ask the Leader of the House how many Acts since 1911 have been passed (a) under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and (b) during "wash-ups" before general elections.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, House of Lords; Labour)

(a) A total of seven Acts have been passed under the Parliament Acts. The following Acts were passed under the Parliament Act 1911:

the Government of Ireland Act 1914;Welsh Church Act 1914; andParliament Act 1949.

The following Acts have been passed since the 1949 Act was passed:

War Crimes Act 1991;European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999;Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000; and Hunting Act 2004.

(b) Bills may pass through one or more stages during the "wash-up" period between the announcement of the date of a general election and the Prorogation, adjournment or dissolution of Parliament prior to the election. Some of these Bills will already have received extensive scrutiny in one or both Houses; others may be taken through all their stages during the wash-up period.

The table below shows the number of bills that received Royal Assent during wash-up before each general election since 1987, together with the stage that each Bill had reached at the beginning of wash-up. Information for general elections between 1911 and 1983 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.