How A Bill Becomes Law

Question 1

What is a bill?

Answer 1

A proposed law

Question 2

What is a session?

Answer 2

The period between electrons is divided into year-long periods

Question 3

What is ‘the plan of the bills for each Parliamentary session’ called?

Answer 3

The legislative programme, created by the government

Question 4

If the government wants to add a proposal for a bill to the legislative programme, what will they have to do?

Answer 4

Submit a request to the Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee of the Cabinet

Question 5

What does the PBL committee do at the start of a Parliamentary session?

Answer 5

They will consider all of the bills and recommend to the Cabinet which bills to include in the programme based on the need for the bill and other factors.

Question 6

What happens after the Cabinet has agreed to the legislative programme?

Answer 6

The PBL Committee will review it and finalise the programme. It will then be announced at the King’s Speech at the start of the Parliamentary session

Question 7

After the Parliamentary session has begun, what happens to help the bill pass through Parliament?

Answer 7

The relevant department will create a bill team.

Question 8

Who is included in a bill team?

Answer 8

A bill manager
The department’s legal advisers
Other officials

Question 9

What happens after the bill team has been created?

Answer 9

The drafters will write the drafts of the bill and send them to the departmental lawyers involved with the bill.

Question 10

What will the layers do after they have received the draft?

Answer 10

They discuss the draft with the policy officials and send comments back to improve the draft. This can happen multiple times.

Question 11

When the departmental lawyers have agreed that the draft is good enough, what happens next?

Answer 11

The Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee will read the bill and decide whether it is ready. They can also decide which House it should start in.

Question 12

What are the major stages of turning a bill into a law after the drafts have been accepted?

Answer 12

The first reading
The second reading
The committee stage
The report stage
(If it is exclusively related to England, it will need to be approved by the Legislative Grand Committee)
The third reading
‘The later stages’
Royal Assent
The review of the law 3-5 years after

Question 13

What is the first reading?

Answer 13

Where the bill will be read out to whichever House it starts in. There is no debate.

Question 14

What happens on the second reading?

Answer 14

A debate on the major parts of the bill is held in the chamber. A government minister opens the debate by explaining the bill. The opposition responds and other members can discuss it. The government responds to the points made by other parties and closes the debate. No changes to the bill can be made.

Question 15

What happens at the end of the second reading?

Answer 15

There will be a vote on the bill. If the government loses the vote, the bill cannot go any further (but this is uncommon)

Question 16

What happens at the committee stage?

Answer 16

The details of the bill will be considered.

Question 17

Who will consider the details of the bill if the committee stage occurs in the House of Commons?

Answer 17

A Public Bill Committee (a group of MPs) or by the Committee of the Whole House

Question 18

Where does the committee stage take place in the House of Lords? Who can participate?

Answer 18

Either the chamber or a committee room. Any peer can participate.

Question 19

What can the committee decide?

Answer 19

If any clauses of the bill should be removed or added or if any other changes need to be made.

Question 20

What is the report stage? Where does it take place?

Answer 20

Where any suggested changes to the bill are discussed
This happens in the chamber

Question 21

What happens to bills only affecting England?

Answer 21

The bill will need to be approved by the Legislative Grand Committee and a majority of MPs from England must support the bill.

Question 22

What is the third reading?

Answer 22

A general discussion of the bill. No changes can be made in the House of Commons, but in the House of Lords, finishing amendments to the bill can be allowed.

Question 23

What happens in the ‘later stages’ of the bill?

Answer 23

Both Houses must agree on the bill before it can become an Act of Parliament. If changes are made in one House, they must be agreed to by the other House. This can continue for a while.

Question 24

What happens 3-5 years after the bill has received Royal Assent and has been passed as a law (and an Act of Parliament)?

Answer 24

The department that created the act review how it worked in practice, submit an assessment to the relevant Commons departmental committee and possibly launch an enquiry into the effects of the act.