Public bill committee

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 of the Exchequer 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. Members of the public can make written submissions to public bill committees after the Second Reading debate, by emailing the Scrutiny Unit.^[2]

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.

References

Current Parliamentary Committees of the United Kingdom

Commons

Departmental	Business, Innovation and Skills Communities and Local Government Culture, Media and Sport Defence Education Energy and Climate Change Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Foreign Affairs Health Home Affairs International Development Justice Northern Ireland Affairs Political and Constitutional Reform Science and Technology Scottish Affairs Transport Treasury Welsh Affairs Work and Pensions

Topical	Arms Export Controls Environmental Audit European Scrutiny Public Accounts Public Administration Regulatory Reform Statutory Instruments

General	Panel of Chairs Public bill committee Delegated Legislation Committee European Committees Northern Ireland Grand Committee Regional Affairs Committee Scottish Grand Committee Welsh Grand Committee

Internal	Administration Finance and Services Backbench Business Liaison Members' Expenses Procedure Selection Standards and Privileges Works of Art

Lords

Topical	Communications Constitution Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Economic Affairs European Union Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Science and Technology

Private business	Hybrid Instruments Standing Orders Internal: House Liaison Committee Privileges and Conduct Procedure Selection

Domestic	Administration and Works Information Refreshment Works of Art

Joint

Select	Consolidation, &c., Bills Human Rights National Security Strategy Statutory Instruments Tax Law Rewrite Bills

Other	Security

Statutory

Commons	House of Commons Commission Administration Estimate Audit Members Estimate Members Estimate Audit Public Accounts Commission Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Joint	Ecclesiastical Committee Intelligence and Security