– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 July 1951.
47.—(1) In the case of a Bill whereby it is proposed—
Provided that, in the case of a Bill whereby it is proposed to revive, or to extend the time limited for the exercise of, any such powers as aforesaid originally conferred by an Act passed not more than four years before the date of the deposit of the Petition for the Bill, then, if a statement in pursuance of this Order, or of any former Standing Order corresponding thereto, was deposited in respect of the Bill for that Act, the houses included in that statement shall be excluded in determining whether a statement is required under this Order to be deposited in respect of the Bill in question.
75A. Any Memorialist may withdraw his Memorial, on a requisition to that effect being deposited in the Private Bill Office, signed by him or by the Agent who deposited the Memorial; and where any such Memorial is signed by more than one person, any person signing the Memorial may withdraw from the Memorial by a similar requisition, signed and deposited as aforesaid.
88A. The Chairman of Ways and Means shall have power to select from the panel appointed under paragraph (2) of Standing Order 111 one Member to act as Chairman at every sitting of a Committee on an Unopposed Bill at which neither the Chairman of Ways and Means nor the Deputy Chairman is present, and at any such sitting the Member so selected shall be a Member of the Committee in addition to the three Members selected under paragraph (2) of Standing Order 111.
163.—(1) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has reported that the Standing Orders have been complied with the bill shall be presented to the House not earlier than the day before, nor later than the day after the first sitting day in February or, if the report from the Examiner is laid on the Table of the House on or after the first sitting day in February, not later than the day after the report was so laid.
(2) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has reported that the standing orders have not been complied with, and the House, on consideration of a report from the Standing Orders Committee that the standing orders ought to be dispensed with, gives leave to the parties to proceed with the bill, the bill shall be presented to the House not later than the following day, or, if such leave was given before the first sitting day in February, not earlier than the day before, nor later than the day after the first sitting day.
(3) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has made a special report then—
167B. In the case of any Bill to which, in the event of its originating in this House, Standing Order 64 (Consents of Members of companies, etc., not being promoters, in case of certain Bills originating in this House) will apply, the name of any company, society, association or partnership not being promoters of the Bill, upon which powers are proposed to be conferred or whose constitution is proposed to be altered by the Bill shall be expressed in the title of the Bill.
172. A copy of any Petition deposited in the Private Bill Office praying to be heard against, or otherwise relating to, a Private Bill shall, on application and payment by any party interested, be supplied to him by the agent concerned for the Petition not later than the day following that on which the application and payment is received.
239A. Whenever any plans, sections, books of reference or maps have been deposited with any public department in relation to any Special Procedure Order by which it is proposed to authorise the compulsory acquisition or user of land or the construction or alteration of works, duplicates of those documents shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office not later than the day following that on which the Order is laid before either House of Parliament.
The House will be aware that it has been the practice of my predecessors and myself at the end of most Sessions to move such Amendments to Private Business Standing Orders as the experience of the past Session or Sessions has shown to be necessary. These Amendments are always liable to be rather extensive, since the Private Business Orders, unlike the Public Business Orders, are intended to be a code in which much of the practice of the House is reduced to a written form.
During the past Session the Private Business Standing Orders have been given an extensive overhaul. Six years have now passed since the Standing Orders were completely revised after a very long interval, and post-war experience of Private Bill legislation has suggested that a considerable number of Amendments—mainly of a drafting nature—might well be made to improve and clarify them.
The result of this review is shown in the Amendments scheduled to the Motion. These Amendments have been discussed and agreed with the Society of Parliamentary Agents, Government Departments, and, where they affect the corresponding orders of another place, with the Lord Chairman of Committees. I have also had the advantage of valuable suggestions from a number of right hon. and hon. Members, to whom I am indebted.
The Amendments thus represent substantially agreed changes in the Standing Orders. They may not perhaps cover everything which some Members may feel might be included; but if any hon. Members wish to make suggestions or to draw my attention to any point on the proposed Amendments I should be happy to discuss them.
The House will perhaps permit me to conclude by mentioning that under my Chairmanship the whole of the Standing Orders of the House, relating to both Public and Private Business, have now been revised and made uniform and the Model Bill and Standard Clauses have been modernised and consolidated. This is not to say that further improvement is not possible, far from it, indeed the process is continuous, but I hope the House may think that a useful and much needed piece of work has been done, and whilst it would be invidious to mention names, I should like to thank all concerned for their co-operation and help.
Mr. Speaker:
The Question is, "That the Motion be approved."
Mr James Milner
, Leeds South East
In view of the objection taken, I think my proper course would be to invite any hon. Members who have objections to be good enough to see me and meanwhile, with your approval, Mr. Speaker, I defer my Motion until tomorrow.
Colonel Leonard Ropner
, Barkston Ash
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Surely the House is concerned with any Amendment to Standing Orders. Therefore, may we have an assurance from either you or the Chairman of Ways and Means—I am not quite sure what the procedure would be—that before these Standing Orders are amended there will be a chance of discussion in the House?
Mr James Milner
, Leeds South East
It is competent for me to put the Motion down as an opposed Motion for debate at 7 o'Clock on some evening. I hope, in the circumstances, that that may not be necessary, but naturally I am in the hands of the House. For the moment, perhaps the Motion could he deferred until tomorrow.
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
The Speaker is an MP who has been elected to act as Chairman during debates in the House of Commons. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who calls MPs to speak, and maintains order in the House. He or she acts as the House's representative in its relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament such as the Lords and the Monarch. The Speaker is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the House. He or she must ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their view without undue obstruction. It is also the Speaker who reprimands, on behalf of the House, an MP brought to the Bar of the House. In the case of disobedience the Speaker can 'name' an MP which results in their suspension from the House for a period. The Speaker must be impartial in all matters. He or she is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker's disinterest. Even after retirement a former Speaker will not take part in political issues. Taking on the office means losing close contact with old colleagues and keeping apart from all groups and interests, even avoiding using the House of Commons dining rooms or bars. The Speaker continues as a Member of Parliament dealing with constituent's letters and problems. By tradition other candidates from the major parties do not contest the Speaker's seat at a General Election. The Speakership dates back to 1377 when Sir Thomas Hungerford was appointed to the role. The title Speaker comes from the fact that the Speaker was the official spokesman of the House of Commons to the Monarch. In the early years of the office, several Speakers suffered violent deaths when they presented unwelcome news to the King. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M2 on the UK Parliament website.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
Public Business is the main business of the day that follows questions, urgent questions and statements.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
