Orders of the Day – in the House of Commons at 8:30 pm on 27 October 2008.
Amendment made: No. 154, page 69, line 43, at end insert—
'( ) An order under this section which provides for the delegation of any function of a charging authority within the meaning of Part 3 of the TA 2000 may be made—
(a) where the area in relation to which the order has effect comprises all or part of the area of one charging authority, only with the consent of that authority;
(b) where that area comprises all or part of the area of two or more charging authorities, only with the consent of a majority of those authorities.'.— [Paul Clark.]
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
