Cat Smith MP, Chair of the Procedure Committee, will make a statement in the Commons on Monday about the Committee’s review of Written Parliamentary Questions. Written questions are one of the principal tools available to MPs seeking information or pressing Ministers to act. But their use has increased dramatically. More than 131,000 were tabled during the 2024–26 Session, with the annual total more than doubling between 2024 and 2025. The distribution is highly uneven. The ten most prolific MPs, just 1.5% of the House, accounted for 21% of all questions in the last Session. During the recent Summer recess, seven MPs were responsible for more than half of all the written questions submitted. The Government estimates that it costs around £219 to answer each question, so the cost in the 2024-26 session may have been around £28.6 million. The Procedure Committee warns that excessive tabling by a small number of Members is placing the entire system under strain and damaging the service received by MPs who use it more selectively. Its recommendations include limits on questions tabled during recesses, requiring MPs personally to approve every question submitted electronically by their staff, and renaming “named day” questions as “priority questions”, answerable within three working days. It also wants a public dashboard showing how promptly departments answer. A select committee statement gives Cat Smith ten minutes to present the report, followed by ten minutes of questions from MPs. The Committee has asked the Leader of the House to provide a subsequent debate and vote so that the House can formally endorse its proposals. You can also read our evidence to the Procedure Committee’s inquiry, including graphs showing that MPs are now tabling over 100 more written questions per day than at any other point in the past 16 years. We also discussed the dramatic rise in the number of written questions during the Summer recess in a recent episode of our Parliament Matters podcast. *** Go behind the Bulletin: learn to navigate Westminster’s papers. Each week, we unpack what’s coming up in Parliament and why it matters. Our Navigating Westminster online workshop will help you explore the detail yourself: how to read the Order Paper, track down reports and correspondence, and understand where parliamentary papers appear, when they are produced and what they tell you. Join the team behind this Bulletin to build your practical parliamentary research skills. 27 October | 9:30am–1:30pm | Online | Save 20%: book by 16 October with discount code EARLY20. | Find out more and book your place ***

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised to update Parliament on protection for those in public life when the Commons returns from recess. This may come in the form of a ministerial statement on Monday or Tuesday, but the timing is not yet confirmed. Her announcement follows the terrorism charge brought against Joshua Kerry, the man accused of murdering former MP Ann Widdecombe. The charges now include allegations of preparing an attack against Nigel Farage. According to The Times, detectives reportedly discovered a list of more than 100 prominent individuals, including dozens of MPs, during searches of Kerry’s home in Rotherham over the summer. Police are contacting those listed about their security. Recent years have brought greater attention to MPs’ safety. The Defending Democracy Taskforce coordinates work across government and policing; a £31 million funding package announced in 2024 included stronger security provision and dedicated police contacts; and the Speaker’s Conference has examined threats to MPs, candidates and elections. Interestingly, members of the Speaker’s Conference are convening again on Monday evening in private session in the Speaker’s study, perhaps to be updated and reflect on the latest developments. There are now serious questions about whether the current arrangements deliver timely protection. The Metropolitan Police has referred its handling of an alleged attempted break-in at Farage’s home to the police watchdog, following indications that relevant lines of inquiry were missed. Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, has also alleged that Farage’s security concerns were not taken seriously by the police and parliamentary authorities. The test for the Home Secretary is practical: can MPs trust that reporting a threat will trigger a prompt, coordinated response? MPs must be able to hold constituency surgeries, attend public events and remain accessible to constituents. Security arrangements must support that democratic work while protecting MPs, their staff and families. We explored these challenges with former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland on our Parliament Matters podcast recorded in the aftermath of Ann Widdecombe’s murder. He is leading the independent review into Sir David Amess’s murder, including possible missed opportunities to prevent it and improvements to MPs’ security when working in their constituencies.

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The Government has thus far tabled 23 amendments to the Courts and Tribunals Bill ahead of its remaining Commons stages on Tuesday 13 October. Ministers are abandoning their proposed judge-only trials and shifting the emphasis towards magistrates’ courts. But can those courts cope and will MPs have enough time to examine the revised plans? The Ministry of Justice’s response to the Justice Committee, published on 8 October, credits the Committee’s parliamentary scrutiny with prompting the change. The Committee had questioned the evidence underpinning the claimed time savings from judge-only trials. However, the Committee’s report also warned that magistrates’ courts would need significant additional support to handle the increased caseload. MPs questioned the feasibility of recruiting 21,000 magistrates, highlighting disappointing recruitment campaigns, persistent retention problems, and a chronic shortage of qualified legal advisers. Ministers insist recruitment is on track, while acknowledging that retaining legal advisers remains a risk. Questions also remain about legal aid: will more defendants face criminal proceedings without representation? The Committee wants clarity about eligibility before the Bill becomes law. MPs will have just one day to consider all the proposed amendments, and complete the Bill’s remaining Commons stages. That leaves little time to test whether the revised approach is adequately resourced or to secure answers on representation and fairness. There is also an unusual political twist. The Justice Committee’s current Chair, Catherine Atkinson MP, served in David Lammy’s ministerial team from May to July 2026. She now leads the Select Committee in the vanguard of scrutinising the legislative proposals brought forward by the department in which she recently served.

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MPs will be asked on Tuesday to extend the carry-over arrangements for the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. The Bill was introduced to the Commons on 14 October 2025, received its Second Reading last November and was carried over when the 2024–26 Session ended on 29 April. It was formally reintroduced in May but has still not begun its detailed Commons scrutiny. Carry-over motions allow a Bill to continue from one parliamentary session to the next rather than falling and having to start again. But proceedings normally lapse, unless extended, 12 months after the date of First Reading in that House. So, the carry over motion will lapse on Wednesday (14 October) and thus needs to be extended. The motion is debatable for up to 90 minutes. The Bill would repeal and replace key parts of the former Conservative Government’s Legacy Act, removing the immunity scheme and restoring the possibility of criminal investigations, civil actions and some inquests relating to the Troubles. It would also replace the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery with a new Legacy Commission with wider investigatory powers. As Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn indicated that the Government would bring forward a package of amendments addressing concerns raised in Belfast and Westminster. Those amendments have yet to appear. Normal practice would be to table Government amendments at least a week before they are considered, giving MPs time to examine them and propose alternatives. With Committee Stage beginning on Monday 19 October, the proposals under the auspices of the new Secretary of State, Chris Bryant MP, may therefore appear on Monday 12 October. This is highly sensitive legislation, affecting victims’ families, veterans, former police officers, and all the main political traditions in Northern Ireland. Yet Ministers have allocated just two days – Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 October – for its entire Committee Stage on the floor of the House. Report Stage and Third Reading are also expected to conclude on the Tuesday. MPs could therefore have just a week to assess potentially substantial Government amendments before completing all remaining Commons stages of a 107-page Bill, comprising 98 clauses and six schedules, in just two days. *** Listen to the latest Parliament Matters podcast episode – This is No Way to Run a Country – Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer takes us behind the scenes at Prime Minister’s Questions, explains why select committees can be more effective than exchanges in the Commons Chamber, and reflects on party discipline, political culture and what Parliament needs to change. ***

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MPs will debate an e-petition calling for the UK to apply to rejoin the EU on Monday. Signed by 111,687 people, it argues that renewed membership would boost growth, tax revenues, and opportunities. Tony Vaughan MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, will open the debate. But the most revealing contribution may come from the Minister responding for the Government. When the previous Government answered the petition on 7 January, its position was unequivocal: “The UK will not be rejoining the EU”. It also ruled out returning to the Single Market, Customs Union or freedom of movement. The political context has since changed. Following Andy Burnham’s Labour conference speech, the new Government has opened a debate about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU, including possible future membership. Monday’s debate offers an early opportunity to see how that shift translates into the position Ministers present to Parliament. There are also more immediate questions. Will Ministers confirm the date of the next UK–EU summit? How close are the two sides to agreements on food and agricultural trade, linking their emissions trading systems, and a youth experience scheme? And how will the Government protect UK businesses and supply chains from potentially exclusionary EU “Made in Europe” measures?

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Baroness Campbell of Surbiton will use an AI-generated version of her own voice to address the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon. This will be the first use of this technology to deliver a speech in Parliament. The Crossbench peer and disability rights campaigner will speak in the Second Reading debate on the Health Bill. Her disability increasingly affects her ability to speak, but the technology will enable her to deliver her own words directly to the House. The Procedure Committee has approved the adjustment, building on its decision in 2012 to allow her personal assistant into the Chamber to read her speeches when needed, an exception to rules restricting access by non-members. The significance goes beyond a technological first. It shows how parliamentary procedures can adapt to remove barriers to participation, enabling members to contribute their expertise and hold Ministers to account. As Baroness Campbell puts it: “It’s my voice, my style, my words.” She also noted that “Sometimes the House of Lords is viewed as out of date; stuffed with old-fashioned traditionalists. That is not my experience. In many ways it has been the most responsive, and inclusive environment I have ever had the privilege to work in. It may be an old building, but the people in it have a can-do attitude when it comes to facilitating members’ contributions to its work. Attitude is everything.”

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The first item on Friday’s Commons Order Paper is Mike Wood’s Heritage Public Houses Bill, which would require councils to maintain registers of heritage pubs and provide additional protections against their sale or redevelopment. It is followed by Neil Shastri-Hurst’s Emergency and Life-saving Skills (Schools) Bill, requiring schools to teach emergency and life-saving skills, and Damian Hinds’s Automated Online Software (Access and Transparency) Bill, addressing the operation of automated tools that access material published online. These are the three ballot Bills listed for Second Reading that day. Mike Wood was third in the ballot, Neil Shastri-Hurst eighth and Damian Hinds thirteenth. Only the first Bill is guaranteed a realistic opportunity for a full debate. The second may be reached if proceedings on the pubs Bill conclude in time; the third is less certain. Thirteen other Bills are listed behind them, but none of them are likely to be debated before the House adjourns. However, a Bill can receive its Second Reading without debate and proceed to Committee Stage if no MP objects when it is called by the Speaker. In practice, this usually happens only when the Government supports the Bill and is content for it to progress, although occasionally one slips through because the Whips fail to object. A Bill that neither receives a Second Reading nor is debated can be rescheduled, but it moves into an increasingly crowded queue. Friday’s apparently extensive agenda is therefore rather deceptive: in practice, the House may debate only one or two Bills, although others could progress without debate.

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Six new life peers – three Labour, two Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat – are due to be introduced during the week. On Monday, broadcaster and social-equity campaigner June Sarpong will join the House as Baroness Sarpong, while Carphone Warehouse co-founder and philanthropist David Ross enters as Lord Ross of Nevill Holt. On Tuesday, two economists will join the House. Tim Leunig, an academic who also spent a decade in Whitehall as a former civil servant and adviser in the Treasury and 10 Downing Street will be introduced as Lord Leunig. Former Labour Treasury Minister and economist Kitty Ussher will be introduced as Baroness Ussher. On Thursday, Barbara Mills KC, the first Black woman to chair the Bar Council, joins as Baroness Mills of Greenwich. Former Chief of the General Staff Sir Patrick Sanders joins as Lord Sanders of Hallingdal. The introductions illustrate the range of expertise brought into the Lords: broadcasting, business, economics, law, and the armed forces. But they come after peers debated proposals for a retirement age and minimum participation requirement just before the conference recess, with the aim of reducing the size of the House. Every new appointment therefore reinforces the underlying question: can the House control its size if departing peers are followed by a continuing flow of new creations?

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Lord Bellingham will ask Ministers on Tuesday whether they intend to reintroduce the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. The previous Bill was intended to implement the UK–Mauritius agreement transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, while the United Kingdom leased back Diego Garcia to preserve the joint UK–US military base. The Bill fell at the end of the previous Session, with outstanding differences between the Commons and Lords unresolved. Its progress was halted following the withdrawal of US support for the agreement. If Ministers still intend to implement it, fresh primary legislation will be needed. The original Bill prompted arguments about national security, the cost and duration of the lease, the position of Chagossians, asylum claims, and the future of the military base. It was also the subject of diplomatic wrangling with the US Government. Reintroduction would revive all of them. There is also a potentially significant procedural question: could the Government reintroduce the Bill and use the Parliament Acts to secure Royal Assent without the Lords’ consent? In principle, yes. The previous Bill appears to provide a first-session basis for that route, provided Ministers reintroduce a qualifying version in this Session and meet the remaining statutory conditions. That would, however, be controversial. The two Houses failed to agree the Bill’s final text before the previous Session ended because the Government chose not to schedule further ping-pong proceedings, leaving the Lords unable to consider the Commons amendments. This nevertheless counts as “rejection” for Parliament Act purposes. Ministers could therefore seek to override the Lords on the strength of an impasse that their own scheduling decision left unresolved, raising questions about the spirit, rather than simply the letter, of the procedure. Tuesday’s ten-minute question gives peers an opportunity to press Ministers on whether the agreement remains Government policy, whether US backing has been secured, when and in what form a replacement Bill might appear, and whether its terms will differ from its predecessor. Reintroduction would revive disputes about national security, the lease’s cost and duration, and the rights and wishes of Chagossians. Any prospect of using the Parliament Acts would add a further controversy over how the legislation should be scrutinised.

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The Foreign Affairs Committee holds a joint session on Tuesday with seven members of its German counterpart committee, led by its Chair, Armin Laschet. Laschet is a former Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia and was the CDU/CSU candidate for Chancellor in Germany’s 2021 federal election. He has chaired the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee since 2025. Joining him in person will be Jürgen Hardt (CDU), Stephan Mayer (CSU), Stefan Keuter (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), Lea Reisner (Die Linke), Awet Tesfaiesus (Alliance 90/the Greens) and Adis Ahmetović (SPD). The delegation therefore represents all five parliamentary groups on the German committee. The participation of an AfD representative adds an important political dimension. The party’s positions on Russia, Ukraine, migration, and the European Union differ sharply from those of Germany’s established parties and of most UK parliamentarians. Germany’s mainstream parties have sought to isolate the AfD through a “firewall” (Brandmauer) against political cooperation. But its electoral success means that isolation cannot extend to parliamentary proceedings: AfD members now sit on committees and participate in delegations, including the one visiting Westminster. The meeting comes at a time when British and German parliamentarians face many of the same foreign-policy questions: the future of European security, support for Ukraine, relations with the United States, defence spending and the response to authoritarian states. Joint committee sessions cannot make decisions for either Parliament. Their value lies in parliamentary diplomacy: building relationships, exchanging information and perspectives, and testing whether national legislatures see strategic challenges in the same way as their governments.

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Remember, parliamentary business can change at short notice so always double-check the Order Paper on the relevant day if you are interested in a particular item of business.

Library briefings for each day: Commons · Lords

2:30pm, Sagal Abdi-Wali MP, the Labour winner of last week’s Holborn and St Pancras by-election to replace Sir Keir Starmer, is likely to take the oath at the start of today’s proceedings

Work and Pensions Questions

3:30pm, Select Committee Statements: Procedure Committee Report on Written Parliamentary Questions; International Development Committee Report on UK International Climate Finance: “Sustaining Commitments and Impact Amid a Shrinking Aid Budget”

Backbench Business Debate: Baby Loss Awareness Week

Adjournment Debate: Government support for high streets in Amber Valley constituency (Linsey Farnsworth, Labour)

Westminster Hall: 4:30pm, e-petition 749128 relating to the UK applying to rejoin the EU

Delegated Legislation Committees: 6:00pm, Human Rights Act Remedial Order; 6:00pm, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism; 6:00pm, British Steel Property Transfer

2:30pm, Oral Questions

3:10pm, Public Office (Accountability) Bill: Committee Stage

Grand Committee: Railways Bill: Committee Stage

↖ Contents · What’s On Monday: Commons · Lords · Committees

11:30am, Energy Security and Net Zero Questions

12:30pm, Ten Minute Rule: Hares Bill (Ruth Jones, Labour)

Courts and Tribunals Bill: Remaining Stages

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Carry-over extension until 29 April 2027

Adjournment Debate: Bone and joint health (David Reed, Conservative)

Westminster Hall: 9:30am, the future of the UK coach industry; 11:00am, Government support for rugby league clubs; 2:30pm, Kinship Care Week 2026; 4:00pm, the Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme; 4:30pm, Government support for youth suicide prevention charities and mental health support for young people

Public Bill Committees: 9:25am and 2:00pm, Immigration and Asylum Bill: Debate

Delegated Legislation Committees: 2:30pm, Railways Interoperability in Northern Ireland; 4:30pm, Overseas Prudential Requirements

2:30pm, Oral Questions

3:10pm, Health Bill: Second Reading

Grand Committee: 3:45pm, Delegated legislation

↖ Contents · What’s On Tuesday: Commons · Lords · Committees

11:30am, Attorney General Questions

12:00 noon, Prime Minister’s Questions

12:30pm, Ten Minute Rule: Wet wipes (Labelling, Sale and Marketing) Bill (David Burton-Sampson, Labour)

General Debate: Opposition day (Conservative, third allotted day)

Adjournment Debate: Potential merits of disregarding compensation from the War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation schemes in the calculation of benefit entitlements (Josh Babarinde, Liberal Democrat)

Westminster Hall: 9:30am, Government support for the situation in Nepal; 11:00am, the potential merits of Government support for Chetwynd Bridge; 2:30pm, Government oversight of underperforming NHS trusts; 4:00pm, school funding in Stockport; 4:30pm, the future of nuclear energy in Scotland

Public Bill Committee: 9:25am, Infants, Parents and Carers Bill: Debate

Delegated Legislation Committees: 2:30pm, Code of Practice on Trade Union Recognition; 2:30pm, Windsor Framework Amendment; 4:30pm, Boiler Upgrade Scheme

3:00pm, Oral Questions

3:40pm, Sovereign Grant Bill: Second Reading and Remaining Stages

Delegated Legislation: Employment-related Regulations and Code of Practice, with “regrets” amendments to be moved by Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative)

Grand Committee: 4:15pm, debate on the Treaty between the UK and Poland on a Security and Defence Partnership

↖ Contents · What’s On Wednesday: Commons · Lords · Committees

9:30am, Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Questions

10:30am, Highways (Financing) Bill: Second Reading

Adjournment Debate: Detention of Jagtar Singh Johal (Douglas McAllister, Labour)

Westminster Hall: 1:30pm, Select Committee Statement on the Joint Committee on Human Rights Report on Human Rights and the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence; 1:50pm, the matter of support for unpaid carers; 3:10pm, progress towards a smokefree UK

Public Bill Committee: 11:30am, Immigration and Asylum Bill: Debate

11:00am, Oral Questions

11:40am, Debate: democratic accountability, citizen participation and electoral reform in relation to local government

Question for Short Debate: What plans the Government have to support family businesses in the UK

Debate: the growing threats to the UK’s food security

Grand Committee: 12:15pm, debate on the Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Cooperation on the Application of their Respective Competition

↖ Contents · What’s On Thursday: Commons · Lords · Committees

9:30am, Private Members’ Bills: beginning with Second Reading of the Heritage Public Houses Bill (Mike Wood, Conservative)

Not sitting

↖ Contents · What’s On Friday: Commons

Both Houses will resume at 2:30pm on Monday 19 October 2026. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 18 October.

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