With time on the floor of the House for private members' debates curtailed in recent years, experimental sittings in Westminster Hall have quickly become part of the landscape for the Commons. These sittings take the form of a series of 'adjournment debates' of varying lengths, 30 and 90 minutes being the norm.
Sittings take place from 9.30am to 11.30am and then from 2pm to 4.30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Thursdays. In the afternoons, debates may suspended for divisions and some key statements in the House and time is extended accordingly.
For Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a timetable determines which Departments will make Ministers available to respond to debates and this governs what subjects may be chosen on any particular day. On Thursdays, government or select committee business may be debated for two hours. Cross-cutting questions may also be taken.
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