This week, Parliament will have an unusual five-day sitting. Press reports suggest the Government plans to adopt more five-day weeks to expedite its legislative program. Keep an eye also on the scheduling of future Backbench Business debates: to make more time for Government business in the Chamber, there might be a move to restrict them to Westminster Hall only for a period.

Friday sittings are typically reserved for Private Members' Bills on 13 Fridays each Session. However, this Monday, the Leader of the House will propose delaying the Private Members' Bill ballot to 5 September (the first Thursday after the Summer recess). This might allow more time for the Government to prepare 'hand-out' bills, which, because they are backed by the government, have a higher chance of becoming law. It will also reduce the time available for lobbying by campaigners that the MPs would otherwise face between the ballot and the introduction (First Reading) of the bills after the Party Conference recess.

Setting up a new Parliament involves numerous internal elections for various posts. This Tuesday, the Deputy Speakers will be elected. All three deputies from the last Parliament are no longer in office, so the Speaker's new team will be fresh but inexperienced in the Chair.

This week sees the final two days of debate and votes on the King's Speech. All eyes will be on the Speaker to see if he selects a backbench amendment on an issue like the two-child benefit cap or Gaza, and how significant any Labour rebellion might be.

Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) returns this Wednesday. Will the civility seen in the interactions between Starmer and Sunak after the King’s Speech continue, or will they revert to the usual confrontational style?

On Wednesday, MPs will vote to approve £1.04 trillion of government spending (the Main Estimates) - the kind of number to make any new MP gulp when casting one of their first votes!

A key lesson for new MPs: avoid submitting questions verbatim as handed out by the Whips. Read on to find out how some MPs have already submitted identical questions to Ministers!

Questions and statements: There are no departmental questions. The day will begin with any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements at 14:30. Main business: The fourth of five days' debate on the King’s Speech will focus on the ‘Economy, Welfare and Public Services’. The Speaker may select up to four amendments to the Government’s motion. On this penultimate day of debate, an amendment from the Leader of the Opposition will be considered. Rishi Sunak's amendment (listed as amendment H on the Order Paper) criticises the Speech for not acknowledging the "improved economic conditions the Government is inheriting" or detailing "how to make necessary savings on welfare." His amendment urges the Government to "avoid raising taxes on working people," "refrain from using changes to reliefs to increase taxes," and "prevent income tax from being charged on the state pension."

The House will also vote on the motion to delay the Private Members' Bill ballot. Adjournment: DUP MP Jim Shannon has a debate on Government support for the aerospace industry in Northern Ireland. He is renowned for making interventions during other MPs’ adjournment debates, so this will be one of the rare adjournment debate speeches without an ‘intervention’ from the man himself! House of Lords: Peers will continue debating the King’s Speech, focusing on ‘Economic Growth, Infrastructure, and Employment’. Notably, Sir Patrick Vallance, now Lord Vallance of Balham, the new Minister for Science, Research, and Innovation, will deliver his maiden speech at the Despatch Box just days after his introduction to the Lords. Before the debate, motions to appoint members to various administrative and procedural House of Lords select committees will be considered – Conduct; Finance; House of Lords Commission; Liaison; Procedure and Privileges; Services.

Additionally, four oral questions are on the agenda. Baroness Thornhill will question the Government on reviewing existing spending commitments for local councils, an issue worth monitoring for any indications of the Government’s approach given concerns about the potential bankruptcy of some authorities. Deputy Speakers election: Nominations for the three Deputy Speaker vacancies in the House of Commons are open from 10:00 to 17:00, ahead of Tuesday's election. Candidates must submit a brief declaration of their willingness to stand, supported by signatures from six to 10 MPs, and can also include a 500-word supporting statement. Declared candidates are: Nusrat Ghani (Con); Sir Roger Gale (Con); Caroline Nokes (Con); Wendy Morton (Con); Judith Cummins (Lab) and Sharon Hodgson (Lab). Karen Bradley (Con) is also reported to be considering a run.

The Chairman of Ways and Means, the most senior Deputy Speaker, must come from the opposition benches, as must the Second Deputy Chair. The Government benches must provide the First Deputy Chair. With the distribution of seats among opposition parties, there have been suggestions, including from former Commons clerk Paul Evans in a Hansard Society blog, that one of the Deputy Speakers could come from the Liberal Democrats. However, only 17 Liberal Democrat MPs have prior parliamentary experience so they may all be needed on their party’s front bench.

Deputy Speakers election: The election of the three Deputy Speakers will take place between 10:00 and 13:30 using the Single Transferable Vote electoral system. The result will likely be announced by the Speaker towards the end of the day. Questions and statements: The first departmental Question Time of this Parliament will take place at 11:00, featuring new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting. Of the 24 questions on the Order Paper at least 10 appear to be planted ‘hand-out’ questions, possibly provided via the Whips. Identical questions submitted by Labour MPs include:

• four on the “effectiveness of the NHS dental contracting framework”;

• two on the “adequacy of access to primary care services”;

• two on the “adequacy of access to NHS mental health services”; and

• two on the Secretary of State's plans to “improve treatment for people with a glioblastoma brain tumour”.

Tip for new MPs: craft your own questions or at least make an effort to reword those provided by the Whips or the Minister’s PPS (Parliamentary Private Secretary)!

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. Main business: The King’s Speech debate concludes with a focus on ‘Immigration and Home Affairs’. The Speaker may select up to three amendments for a vote on this final day. One amendment will be from the Leader of the Opposition. Once that has been debated and voted on the remaining amendments will be put ‘forthwith’ (without debate). Given the size of the third party, one amendment is likely to come from Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey. Attention will be on whether the Speaker selects a fourth amendment and, if so, which one. The most supported amendments so far call for eliminating the two-child benefit cap and addressing the conflict in Israel and Gaza, primarily backed by Labour backbenchers, minor-party MPs, and independents. Selection of amendments to the Gracious Speech has sometimes been controversial. For example, in 2017, Speaker John Bercow selected Labour backbench amendments from Stella Creasy on abortion rights in Northern Ireland and from Chuka Umunna on Brexit. In 2013, he selected John Baron's amendment criticising the absence of legislation for a referendum on EU membership, which helped pave the way for the Brexit referendum. Current Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has generally avoided controversy (with the exception of the Opposition Day amendment earlier this year) but the representation of minor party MPs might influence the selection of one of their amendments to reflect the diversity of backbench opinions. But choosing which issue should be the subject of this amendment will be contentious. Adjournment: Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi will lead a debate on preventing commercial sexual exploitation. She was an officer in the Commercial Sexual Exploitation All Party Parliamentary Group in the last Parliament (APPGs have not yet been reconstituted in this new Parliament.) This debate may mark Jess Phillip’s debut at the Government Despatch Box in her new role at the Home Office tackling violence against women and girls. House of Lords: The main business will be the continuation of the debate on the King’s Speech, focusing on the ‘Constitution and Devolution’. Prior to the debate Lord Sikka has tabled an oral question on the financial resilience of England’s water companies, which is particularly relevant given the situation at Thames Water and the planned Water (Special Measures) Bill announced in the King’s Speech. Retained EU Law: Tuesday marks the deadline for the Government to publish its six-monthly report on the progress made in reforming EU-related assimilated law (previously known as Retained EU Law (REUL)) as required under Section 17 of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. While most of the report may reflect the previous Government’s work, it may provide early insights into the new Government’s approach to future reforms. The King’s Speech indicated in relation to the Product Safety and Metrology Bill that Ministers are considering potential alignment with aspects of the EU regulatory framework deemed beneficial to the UK. The REUL progress reports were sent to the European Scrutiny Committee in the last Parliament but the new Government may wish to take a different approach.

Questions and statements: At 12:00 Northern Ireland Questions will take place, featuring Hilary Benn at the Government Despatch Box after a 14-year interval. A significant issue likely to dominate this session is the reported involvement of the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray in discussions about funding of the multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Casement Park sports stadium in Belfast. This topic has prompted four questions from MPs representing three Northern Ireland parties (DUP, SDLP, and TUV) and from Labour’s Mary Kelly Foy, a former member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee. At 12:30 Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer will face Rishi Sunak and other MPs at his first PMQs since taking office and his only PMQs before the House rises for the Summer recess. Calum Miller, the new Lib Dem MP for Bicester and Woodstock, will have the nerve-wracking honour of asking the first question. Rupert Lowe came seventh in the ballot so will likely be the first Reform MP to participate in PMQs. Reflecting their reduced presence in the House, the first backbench Conservative MP to secure a place in the PMQs ballot was Lewis Cocking of Broxbourne, who appears ninth on the list. Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. Main business: The first item of business is a motion to approve the Global Combat Air Programme International Government Organisation (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2024, This Statutory Instrument (SI) enacts a December 2023 convention agreed between the UK, Japan and Italy to establish the Global Combat Air Programme, aiming to deliver a next-generation aircraft by 2035.

SIs like this are normally debated in a Delegated Legislation Committee (DLC). But this one will be considered in the House of Commons Chamber, likely due to the absence of both the Panel of Chairs (a group of senior MPs appointed by the Speaker to chair various legislative committees) and the Committee of Selection (tasked with appointing members of legislative and Select Committees) which are yet to be established. The debate will last a maximum of 90 minutes. After the debate on that motion, there will be a General Debate on Education and Opportunity.

At 19:00 the House will vote to approve £1.04 trillion in government expenditure in the Main Estimates just a week after the 618-page Estimates document was published. This task has been left to the new Government after the normal timetable for presentation and approval of the Estimates was interrupted by the General Election, as we flagged in our Back to Business Guide. A debate prior to the vote on the Estimates has not been listed. The usual scrutiny process – limited as it is – involves the Backbench Business Committee and the Liaison Committee but these committees are not currently formed. We have published a procedural guide to the Estimates process and have long called for the already inadequate scrutiny process to be reformed.

Adjournment: Dame Harriet Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, has a debate on flood defences in her constituency. At Business Questions last week she expressed concern over potential cuts to the £5.2 billion earmarked for flood defences, affecting areas like Severn Stoke and Tenbury Wells in her constituency. House of Lords: Peers will continue debating the King’s Speech, focusing on ‘Justice and Home Affairs’. New Peer Lord (James) Timpson (former CEO of the Timpson Group and chair of the Prison Reform Trust) will make his debut at the Despatch Box, wrapping up the debate as the new Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation.

Questions and statements: At 09:30, Cabinet Office ministers, led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, will face questions. As with Health and Northern Ireland Questions, a number of identical questions have been tabled, again revealing the powerful backstage role played by the Whips and others in orchestrating events in the Chamber. Main business: Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Bill will provide statutory authority for the Main Estimates. As our procedural guide explains, this Bill is not subject to debate or amendment at any stage; there is no Committee stage and thus no Report stage, and the questions on Second and Third Readings are put ‘forthwith’ (without debate). The House will then debate the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Requisite and Minimum Custodial Periods) Order 2024 which reduces the required sentence served before release on licence from 50% to 40%, excluding violent and sexual offenders. The Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the SI estimates that it will reduce demand by between 4,900 and 6,200 prison places. The debate, limited to 90 minutes unless extended, will offer early insight into the dividing lines across the parties on this political hot potato. Two procedural motions will then be considered. The first on MPs' second jobs concerns Labour’s manifesto commitment “for an immediate ban on MPs from taking paid advisory or consultancy roles.” Many of the biggest second job earners in the last Parliament retired or lost their seats at the general election. But a few remain so watch out for objectors, particularly on the Conservative benches. The second motion will establish a Modernisation Committee - also promised in Labour’s manifesto - to drive-up standards, improve working practices and reform procedures. The Hansard Society will be paying considerable attention to this Committee! Adjournment: Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent West, has a debate on the Convention on Biological Diversity, which emphasises sustainable development and to which the UK has been a signatory since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. House of Lords: Peers will conclude their debate on the King’s Speech, focusing on ‘Foreign Affairs and Defence.’

Main business: Press reports suggested that the decision to sit this Friday was so progress could be made with the Government’s legislation with the time dedicated to Second Reading of a bill. However, rather than legislation the Government has scheduled a General Debate on ‘Making Britain a clean energy superpower’. This is an odd choice, particularly when this has already been the subject of a ministerial statement and related questions (on 18 July). So why has the Government required MPs to sit on a Friday for a General Debate? Was some other item of business planned but was not ready? Ministerial statements are also permitted at any time during the sitting should there be an urgent development about which the Government wishes to update the House. Adjournment: Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham, has a debate on Government support for pharmacy provision in Hampton following the closure of two Boots pharmacies in her constituency and the resulting pressure on NHS services. House of Lords: The main business will be debates on Select Committee Reports, with topics yet to be announced. Before the main business, the Peers who secured the first two slots in the Private Members’ Bill (PMB) ballot last Friday (19 July) will introduce their Bills. Lord Farmer will present his Support for Infants and Parents etc. (Information) Bill. But it’s the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill presented by Lord Falconer of Thoroton (former Lord Chancellor under Tony Blair and father of the new MP and minister, Hamish Falconer) that will attract most interest. Since 2010 only five PMBs that started in the House of Lords have become law so it will need Government support to progress. Keir Starmer said in 2023 that assisted dying was a suitable subject for a PMB rather than a Government bill and MPs should have a free vote to follow their consciences rather than the party whip. That concludes the business in this very busy first full week. However, all this information comes with a big health warning – changes can be made to the schedule of business, even at very short notice, throughout the week.