– in a Public Bill Committee at on 3 February 2026.
Andrew Murrison
Conservative, South West Wiltshire
9:25,
3 February 2026
Good morning, everyone. We are now sitting in public and the proceedings are being broadcast. I remind Members, please, to switch electronic devices to silent, and that tea and coffee are not allowed during sittings. Today, we will first consider the programme motion on the Amendment paper. We will then consider a motion to enable the reporting of written evidence for publication and a motion to allow us to deliberate in private about our questions before the oral evidence sessions. In view of the time available, I hope we can take those matters formally without debate. I call the Minister to move the programme motion standing in his name, which was discussed yesterday by the Programming Sub-Committee for the Bill.
Ordered,
That—
1. the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 9.25 am on Tuesday 3 February) meet—
(a) at 2.00 pm on Tuesday 3 February;
(b) at 11.30 am and 2.00 pm on Thursday 5 February;
(c) at 9.25 am and 2.00 pm on Tuesday 10 February;
(d) at 9.25 am and 2.00 pm on Tuesday 24 February;
(e) at 11.30 am and 2.00 pm on Thursday 26 February;
(f) at 9.25 am and 2.00 pm on Tuesday 3 March;
(g) at 11.30 am and 2.00 pm on Thursday 5 March;
2. the Committee shall hear oral evidence on Tuesday 3 February in accordance with the following Table:
Time
Witness
Until no later than 10.00 am
Royal United Services Institute; DLA Piper
Until no later than 10.40 am
techUK; Nine23; ISC2
Until no later than 11.25 am
Cisco; Darktrace; NCC Group; Amazon
Until no later than 2.40 pm
Information Commissioner's Office; Ofcom; Ofgem
Until no later than 3.00 pm
Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China
Until no later than 3.20 pm
Professor John Child, Professor of Criminal Law, University of Birmingham
Until no later than 3.40 pm
National Police Chiefs’ Council
Until no later than 4.00 pm
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
Until no later than 4.20 pm
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Until no later than 4.50 pm
Fortinet; Palo Alto Networks
Until no later than 5.10 pm
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
3. proceedings on consideration of the Bill in Committee shall be taken in the following order: Clauses 1 to 22; Schedule 1; Clause 23; Schedule 2; Clauses 24 to 61; new Clauses; new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill;
4. the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 5.00 pm on Thursday 5 March.
Andrew Murrison
Conservative, South West Wiltshire
Copies of written evidence received by the Committee will be made available in the Committee Room.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
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.
Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.
Ofcom Web Site http://www.ofcom.org.uk
