Lords:Progress of a Bill

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Progress of a Bill in The House of Lords

There are several steps used in the creation of a bill in the House of Lords. This section will go through the full process assuming that the bill originates in the House of Lords, however it is equally possible that a bill originates in the House of Commons and so would come straight to the Lords as a written bill.

Initial idea and drafting

Usually a bill occurs when one or more peers have an idea of something to change. This may be after a discussion on the floor, as a reaction to a Prime Minister’s Question answer or an expansion of another bill being worked on.

Generally the first step is to see if other peers share an interest in a topic after a general discussion, having some other peers (known as “Sponsors”) for a bill can make it much easier to progress.

The Lord Speaker can provide a conference room for the Sponsors of a bill to use which can be helpful to discuss the various options and drafts of the bill.

The first big step is to write the first draft, there is no restriction to how you do this but some advice is laid out below:

1. Use sections and headings to separate out parts of your bill and make it clear what each part is discussing.
2. Don’t replicate content from elsewhere unless you intend to change it. It’s okay to say things like “As per the relevant Admiralty Order” or “As outlined in the House of Lords manual”.
3. Keep the focus on the bill small. If you cover a hundred different topics you are more likely to find someone who objects to one area and votes the bill down based on that. It’s much easier to have small focused bills that answer one specific question that is easier to compromise on.

Once your draft bill is ready (or if a bill has come from the House of Commons) it goes to the Lord Speaker to schedule discussion before the whole house.

Discussion and amendments to the bill

The Lord Speaker will create an area for discussion and schedule the discussion on the bill, usually presenting the draft bill and a timeline for the debate.

Typically, Peers will discuss the bill or ask questions of the Sponsors to clarify issues and understand the bill in question. It is normal at this stage for one or more peers to request amendments. If the sponsors are happy with an amendment (for example if it is minor) they can update the bill and share the new version.

If an amendment is controversial it might be worth asking the Lord Speaker to pause the debate and call a vote on adding this amendment to the bill, rules for votes are outlined in their own section.

Once debate has concluded, and any amendments agreed have been implemented, then the Lord Speaker will close the debate and ask if any Peers wish to bring the matter to a vote. Details of how votes work are outlined in their own section.

After a bill has been voted on

If a bill fails a vote, it’s progress has stopped. However there is nothing stopping the sponsors working on a new version that might get better traction with the House later.

If a bill passes it goes to the Lord Speaker to decide the next steps. The first consideration is does the bill affect the Organisation as a whole, if so it will need to go to the House of Commons and so the Lord Speaker will send it to their counterpart in that House. If the bill is Lords specific, and so doesn’t need to go to the Commons, the Speaker will decide if it is a significant enough change to seek Royal Council Approval. If so the Lord Speaker will request that it be added to the next RC meeting for discussion and approval.

Once a bill has been approved by the RC it becomes an Act, this will typically then get published in the appropriate place, for example an amendment to the rules of the House of Lords would be added to this manual, or a change to the rules around Civilian Chapters would be published by the Home Secretary as a Directive.

Voting in the House of Lords

Voting in the House of Lords is triggered after a debate on a topic ends, this might be a bill, a discussion on the award of a PMV or another motion.

Once the time for debate has ended the Lord Speaker will ask if there are any peers who wish to bring this matter to a vote. It requires a Peer to make the motion to bring the matter to a vote, and another peer to second the motion. If no peers wish to bring it to a vote then the motion fails and the Speaker withdraws the matter.

If there is an impromptu motion to vote before the end of the debate time the Lord Speaker may choose to disregard it to give peers time to debate. However it may well be that the debate has happened and so it is up to the Lord Speaker whether they accept an early motion bought by the peers.

Once a vote has been requested and seconded the Lord Speaker will announce the vote and schedule it using appropriate vote tracking software. The Lord Speaker will then announce how long the vote will be open for (typically a week), and where Peers can vote.

To pass any standard motion, a straight majority of those voting either Aye or Nay is required. During a vote a Peer can vote to Abstain, but this isn’t counted for the purposes of determining a majority.

In the event of a tied vote, the Lord Speaker will cast a tie breaking vote to maintain the status quo. For example this means that a bill to change rules would fail, as would a vote to award an award. A vote to sustain something that already happens would pass.

The exception to the straight majority rule is the awarding of the Parliamentary Medal of Valour, this requires an Aye vote of 2/3 (66.66%) of the peers voting Aye or Nay to pass.

There is no quorum of peers to vote on any bill or motion.

Working with the House of Commons

Peers are encouraged to develop relationships with their local MPs to better facilitate work between the two houses.

When a bill is going to affect the whole organisation it can be helpful to have sponsors from both houses, so that there is someone to lead on questions and changes in either place.

If it is helpful the two Speakers can create a joint committee to work on a bill. This will be formed of a small number of peers and a small number of MPs with the objective to work together on a draft that they think both houses will pass. This can help avoid a bill being endlessly passed back and forth without compromise.

If a peer wishes to have a Joint Committee set up they should approach the Lord Speaker.