Guides

Increasingly new pieces of government legislation are published in draft about one Session ahead of their intended introduction and passage. Draft Bills are normally subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny at the hands of a joint-committee of MPs and peers formed for that purpose. Such a committee will take evidence from individuals and organisations who express an...Read More

Primary legislation (Bills and Acts) is split into two categories – Public Bills and Private Bills (with Hybrid Bills in a sub-category between the two). Public Bills are pieces of legislation that affect everyone and every organisation in the same way. For example, a Bill that introduces a new driving offence applies to everyone who...Read More

Primary legislation (Bills and Acts) is split into two categories – Public Bills and Private Bills (with Hybrid Bills in a sub-category between the two). Public Bills are pieces of legislation that affect everyone and every organisation in the same way. For example, a Bill that introduces a new driving offence applies to everyone who...Read More

The Scottish parliament may legislate on any issue that is not in a reserved area. To become law, a bill must be introduced to the parliament, be considered and passed by MSPs, be agreed by the UK government and be given Royal Assent. A bill can be introduced in three ways: Executive bills are introduced...Read More

The head of the British Government is the Prime Minister. The leader of the largest party in the House of Commons is by convention asked by the monarch to be Prime Minister and to form a government. This can only take place after the loser of the election has conceded defeat and tendered his or...Read More

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman or PMOS is a civil servant charged with presenting the Prime Minister and the Government to the media in the best light possible, whilst maintaining the independence and objectivity of the Civil Service. The PMOS briefs press and broadcast journalists most weekdays when Parliament is sitting, giving the Prime Minister's...Read More

Prime Minister's Questions (widely known as PMQs) is the set-piece of the Parliamentary week. The Prime Minister comes to the Commons at noon every Wednesday when Parliament is sitting and answers questions from back-benchers and opposition leaders. Unlike other oral question sessions, the Prime Minister has no foreknowledge of what is to be asked, although...Read More

While the procedure for Private Bills mirrors that for Public Bills, additional weight is given to those individuals and organisations 'directly or specially' affected by proposals, given that the legislation would favour an individual or organisation over a comparable individual or organisation. An application requesting a Private Bill must be lodged with the House authorities...Read More

Private Members' Bills are Public Bills that are introduced by back-benchers. Any MP can introduce a Bill on any day by informing the Speaker that he or she wishes to do so but there are a number of formal ways in which this can be arranged, some of which increase the chances of the Bill...Read More

Private Members' Bills are Public Bills that are introduced by back-benchers. Any peer can introduce a Bill on any day. Private members' Bills have to wait for time to be allocated to them via the Usual Channels. They tend to be debated during dinner breaks or on Fridays. A Bill without Government support is unlikely...Read More

All Ministers, of whatever rank, have a Private Office of four or more civil servants assigned to him or her on appointment. The lead figure in the Private Office is the Private Secretary who works closely with the Minister in discharging all his or her functions. The Private Office is responsible for the Minister's diary...Read More

The Privy Council, as body of government, predates the Cabinet and the existence of the Prime Minister by many centuries. Originally the private council of trusted advisers surrounding the sovereign, it has evolved to become a somewhat hidden instrument of government. It also has judicial powers (as the appeal court for some Commonwealth nations and...Read More

All Government Bills are programmed (also known as timetabling). After Second Reading, a programme motion is put to the House. A programme motion specifies the amount of time allocated to each of the following stages of the Bill in the Commons. It normally gives the date on which the Bill should leave Standing Committee as...Read More