Public bill committee

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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 every year in March/April, and to some occasional bills such as the 1998/99 House of Lords Reform Bill.

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.

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.

[edit] References

^ House of Commons - Public Bill Committees

v • d • e Current British parliamentary committees

Commons	Departmental: Business and Enterprise • Children, Schools and Families • Communities and Local Government • Culture, Media and Sport • Defence • Environment, Food and Rural Affairs • Foreign Affairs • Health • Home Affairs • Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills • International Development • Justice • Transport • Treasury • Work and Pensions National: Northern Ireland Affairs • Scottish Affairs • Welsh Affairs Topical: Arms Export Controls • Environmental Audit • European Scrutiny • Liaison • Public Accounts • Public Administration • Regulatory Reform • Statutory Instruments Internal: Modernisation of the House of Commons • Standards and Privileges • Procedure • Selection Domestic: Administration • Finance and Services

Lords	Topical: Communications • Constitution • Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform • European Union • Hybrid Instruments • Merits of Statutory Instruments • Regulators • Science and Technology Economic Affairs: Economic Affairs Finance Bill European Union Committee: A • B • C • D • E • F • G Internal: House • Privileges • Procedure • Selection Domestic: Administration and Works • Refreshment

Joint	Consolidation, &c., Bills • Human Rights • Statutory Instruments • Tax Law Rewrite Bills

General	Public bill committee • Delegated Legislation Committees • European Standing Committees • Northern Ireland Grand Committee • Regional Affairs Committee • Scottish Grand Committee • Welsh Grand Committee

Others	Advisory Committee on Works of Art • Ecclesiastical Committee • Members Estimate Committee • Members Estimate Audit Committee • Public Accounts Commission • Joint Committee on Security • Speaker's Committee