Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 June 1964.
Mr. J. T. Price:
On a point of order. You have given the number of the next selected Amendment, Sir Samuel. May I draw your attention to the fact that the Amendment Paper is not printed in serial order? It starts with Amendments Nos. 45 and 49 and then goes to No. 94. I understand the reason for this. It is because of the different times at which Amendments have been tabled. It would, however, greatly assist the Committee if you could state not only the number of the Amendment, but the page of the Amendment Paper. It is difficult to find Amendments unless one knows where they are.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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.
