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In the British House of Commons, public bill committees (known as standing committees before 2006^[1]) consider Bills – proposed Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords does not have such committees, as Bills are usually considered by the House as a whole.

When a Bill has received its Second Reading in the House of Commons, it reaches its committee stage. The Bill is then usually sent to a public bill committee for consideration. However, some bills are considered not by a public bill committee but by a Committee of the Whole House; in this case, amendments are proposed and discussed by the entire House of Commons. This applies to some key clauses of Finance Bills, which are proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer every year in March/April, and to some occasional bills that are important, large scale or controversial, such as the House of Lords Reform Bill 1999^{[citation needed]} and the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.^[2]

The job of public bill committees is to debate and consider amendments to a Bill. The committee considers each Bill clause by clause, and may amend it (the House then considers the bill as amended at the Bill's Report Stage). Under the post-2006 House of Commons procedure, public bill committees may take a limited amount of evidence (akin to a select committee) on certain bills committed to them. Members of the public can make written submissions to public bill committees after the Second Reading debate, by emailing the Scrutiny Unit.^[3]

The composition of the committee is roughly proportional to that of the House itself, so it is rare that amendments are accepted that are contrary to a majority Government's wishes. As the overall purpose of a Bill has been set by its Second Reading in the House, amendments at the committee stage may not make drastic changes.

References

^ House of Commons – Public Bill Committees
^ "Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
^ House of Commons – Public Bill Committee Written Submissions

Current parliamentary committees of the United Kingdom

Commons

Departmental	Business and Trade Culture, Media and Sport Defence Education Energy Security and Net Zero Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Foreign Affairs Health and Social Care Home Affairs International Development Justice Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Northern Ireland Affairs Science, Innovation and Technology Scottish Affairs Transport Treasury Welsh Affairs Work and Pensions
Topical	Arms Export Controls Environmental Audit European Scrutiny Petitions Public Accounts Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Statutory Instruments Women and Equalities
General	Panel of Chairs Public bill committees Delegated legislation committees European committees Northern Ireland Grand Committee Regional Affairs Committee Scottish Grand Committee Welsh Grand Committee
Internal	Administration Finance Backbench Business Liaison Procedure Selection Standards Privileges Works of Art
Statutory	House of Commons Commission Administration Estimate Audit Members Estimate Members Estimate Audit Public Accounts Commission Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Lords

Topical	Communications and Digital Constitution Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Economic Affairs European Affairs International Agreements International Relations and Defence Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Science and Technology
Private	Hybrid Instruments Standing Orders
Internal	Lords Commission Finance Liaison Conduct Procedure and Privileges Selection
Domestic	Services Works of Art

Joint

Select	Consolidation Bills Human Rights National Security Strategy Statutory Instruments Tax Law Rewrite Bills
Statutory	Ecclesiastical Committee Intelligence and Security

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This page was last edited on 19 February 2024, at 09:29

Public bill committee

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References