Questions and statements: At 14:30, Work and Pensions Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include youth hubs, the Timms Review, supporting people with health conditions or disabilities into work, the WASPI state pension changes, Personal Independence Payment, post-16 education, the Access to Work scheme, the cost of living, and Jobcentre work coaches.

At 15:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. Each Urgent Question lasts around 40 minutes on average, and Ministerial Statements last an average of around 50 minutes.

Armed Forces Bill (Second Reading): This Bill contains provisions to improve the service justice system, establish a new Defence Housing Service, enable defence personnel to detect and prevent drones, and put the Armed Forces Covenant into law (as promised in the Labour Party manifesto). The Bill also includes measures in relation to reserve forces, including raising the maximum age at which veterans can be recalled from 55 to 65. (House of Commons Library briefing)

A provision of particular constitutional importance is the renewal of the Armed Forces Act 2006 for a further five years. The Act underpins the terms of service and the system of discipline of the armed forces. By longstanding constitutional principle, reflected in the Bill of Rights 1688, a standing army may not be maintained in peacetime without Parliament’s consent. Accordingly, the 2006 Act requires itself to be renewed annually by Statutory Instruments approved by Parliament. In addition, the Act itself provides that these annual renewals may only continue for a maximum of five years, after which fresh primary legislation is required. For this reason Parliament has enacted new Armed Forces Acts every five years since 2006 – 2011, 2016 and 2021 – to enable the annual renewal process to continue. This Bill would extend that arrangement by allowing the 2006 Act to be renewed annually for a further five-year period, up to 2031.

At Second Reading, the House debates the principles and purposes of the Bill. MPs cannot amend the text at this stage. If the Bill is given a Second Reading, the programme motion specifies that it will first be committed to a Select Committee, which must report back to the House by 30 April 2026. The Select Committee will comprise 17 MPs reflecting the party balance in the wider House, and will have the power to take both oral and written evidence. Committing a Bill to a Select Committee is relatively uncommon but the same procedure was followed for the previous Armed Forces Bill in 2021.

The programme motion further indicates that Committee Stage will then be taken in Committee of the Whole House – that is, in the Chamber rather than a committee room – and that the Committee of the Whole House, Report Stage and Third Reading will all be completed in a single sitting. This debate will occur in the next parliamentary Session, as the Bill is subject to a carry-over motion and can be carried over only if it has not completed its passage through the Commons before the end of the current Session. The start date for the new Session has not yet been confirmed but media reports suggest it will likely be in mid-May.

Motions: Three motions have been tabled for approval. Two concern Statutory Instruments: the draft Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) England Regulations 2026 and the draft Medical Devices (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2026. The third and final motion concerns a change to the membership of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

Adjournment: Labour MP Josh Newbury will give a speech on NHS urgent care in Staffordshire. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

16:30: MPs will debate e-petition 729440, which calls on the Government to make play-based teaching a core part of the Key Stage 1 National Curriculum. The petition has around 106,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

18:00: MPs will debate e-petition 718660, which calls for the introduction of licensing and regulation for dog and cat rescue organisations. The petition has around 110,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Commons ↘

Introduction of new Peers: At 14:30, two new Labour Peers will be introduced:

• Tracey Paul – now Baroness Paul of Shepherd’s Bush – communications professional and former head of elections for the Labour Party; and

• Sir Michael Barber – now Lord Barber of Chittlehampton – the Prime Minister’s Envoy to the Palestinian Authority since December 2024, and former head of the No. 10 Delivery Unit between 2001 and 2004.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on the impact of the Budget on grassroots music venues; violence and harassment in the workplace; uniformed youth groups; and superintelligent AI.

Delegated legislation: Two draft Statutory Instruments previously considered in Grand Committee are set to be approved without debate:

• United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Glue Traps) Regulations 2025;

• Local Government (Exclusion of Non-commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026.

At this point the House had been expected to debate the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill (Consideration of Commons Reasons), after the Commons last week disagreed with several amendments made when the Bill passed through the Lords. But Consideration was dropped from today’s Order Paper when it was updated late on Friday, suggesting that the Government is now reflecting on how best to proceed, possibly in light of President Trump’s comments last week criticising the agreement.

General debate on Holocaust Memorial Day: The remainder of the day will be taken up with a general debate in anticipation of Holocaust Memorial Day, which falls tomorrow, Tuesday 27 January. The debate will be led by Government Minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust have indicated that the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 is “bridging generations”. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Grand Committee

15:45: Pension Schemes Bill (Committee, day 5 of 7): Today was originally intended to be the final day for Committee Stage of this Government Bill to reform the pensions regime, the provisions of which were outlined in an earlier edition of the Bulletin. However, the Government Whips have had to extend Committee Stage to seven days, due to the slow progress made through the amendments. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Committee Stage, Peers consider whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. The next clauses and groups of amendments to be debated relate to proposed new obligations on pension schemes to increase the scale of their default funds and the broad new power to impose mandatory asset allocations on pension schemes’ default funds, for example to encourage pension schemes to invest in UK assets.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:30: Scottish Affairs Committee – The work of the BBC in Scotland: The Director of BBC Scotland and other BBC officials will give evidence.

15:30: Public Accounts Committee – Accountability in small Government bodies: Senior officials from the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Ministry of Justice, Office of the Children’s Commissioner, and Government Actuary’s Department will give evidence.

Joint

16:30: Committee on the National Security Strategy – The National Security Strategy: Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones MP, Security Minister Dan Jarvis MP, and Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins will give evidence. It was Collins who gave evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in relation to the China spying case involving MPs staff, which the CPS later deemed insufficient to continue the case at trial.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

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↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Select Committees ↘

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and other Treasury Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include research and development bonds, regional funding, business rates, support for small businesses, living standards, rail infrastructure funding, energy bills, Covid fraud, the FTSE-100 index, and sanctions against Russia.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Labour MP Julie Minns will seek to introduce an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Bill under the Ten Minute Rule which allows MPs to give a ten-minute speech in favour of a Bill before seeking the House’s permission to introduce it. The Bill would prohibit the marketing, sale, and supply of excessively large, fast or high-powered electrically assisted pedal cycles. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill (All Stages): This Bill will be fast-tracked through all its Commons stages in a single sitting today. The Bill would introduce a system of prioritisation for the allocation of medical training places, with priority given to graduates of UK and Irish medical schools. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Before the Bill can be debated, the Government will move an Allocation of Time motion specifying that all stages of the Bill be taken at today’s sitting within a maximum of six hours. Specifically, the motion stipulates that Second Reading will conclude no later than four hours after the Allocation of Time motion is moved and that Committee, Report and Third Reading must all conclude no later than six hours after the Allocation of Time motion is moved (or two hours after the latest end-time for Second Reading, whichever is later).

When Committee of the Whole House and Report Stage of a Bill take place on the same day, amendments are tabled for Committee Stage rather than Report Stage. Only one amendment has thus far appeared on the amendment paper: from the Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Stuart Andrew, proposing that the Act should come into force on the day it receives Royal Assent, rather than on a day appointed by the Secretary of State.

Historically, ‘expedited’ or ‘fast-tracked’ legislation has been relatively uncommon, although it has been used more regularly in recent years. Only two Bills have been fast-tracked so far this session: the Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Act 2025, and the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025.

It is customary for the Government to justify any fast-tracking of legislation in a Bill’s official Explanatory Notes. In this case the Notes explain that Royal Assent must be secured no later than 5 March 2026 if the new system of prioritisation for training places is to apply to the current application round for posts starting in August. This timetable may in turn raise issues about retrospectivity, since key elements of this year’s application process have already begun.

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has previously warned that fast-track legislation raises serious constitutional concerns. In a 2009 report, the Committee recommended that there should be a presumption in favour of ‘sunset clauses’ – where some or all of the provisions in an Act would cease to have effect after a certain date, unless Parliament chose to renew or replace it. No sunset clause appears in this Bill. The Government justifies this on the basis that it intends the new system to have permanent effect.

The Government Whips in the House of Lords have indicated that Second Reading and Committee Stage in the Upper House will take place on separate days (4 February and 12 February respectively), and Report Stage and Third Reading are likely to be similarly split. That means that scrutiny of the Bill will be conducted over three or four days in the House of Lords, yet only one in the Commons.

Presentation of Public Petitions: Liberal Democrat MP Pippa Heylings will present a public petition on the Public Order Act 2023, and Labour MP Brian Leishman will present one on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Adjournment: Conservative MP Richard Fuller will give a speech on the impact of East Park Energy solar farm on his North Bedfordshire constituency. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: UK bus manufacturing (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: The impact of the time taken to install gigabit capable broadband on rural communities (House of Commons Library briefing / Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POSTnote)

14:30: Women’s safety while walking, wheeling, cycling and running (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Government support for consumer energy bills (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:30: Tackling the digital exploitation of women and girls (House of Commons Library briefing / Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POSTnote)

Public Bill Committees

09:25 and 14:00: Finance (No. 2) Bill (Committee, day 1): This legislation gives statutory effect to many of the tax changes announced in this year’s Budget Statement. More detail about the relationship between the Finance Bill and the Budget was included in a previous edition of the Bulletin, and is explained further in our guide to the Budget process.

At Committee Stage, MPs consider whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. Most Committee Stages take place either in a Committee of the Whole House – a debate in the Chamber in which any MP may participate – or in a Public Bill Committee (PBC) – a debate in a committee room where only a selected number of MPs can participate. However, Finance Bills are subject to ‘split committal’, whereby more controversial clauses are scrutinised by the whole House, and the rest of the Bill is scrutinised in a PBC. The Committee of the Whole House has already taken place (as outlined in a recent edition of the Bulletin).

Finance Bill PBCs are typically composed of up to 40 MPs, roughly twice the size of PBCs for other Bills, reflecting the greater size and complexity of Finance Bills.

09:25 and 14:00: Railways Bill (Committee, day 3): The Public Bill Committee appointed to consider this Bill will continue its clause-by-clause scrutiny. The next clauses and amendments to be debated relate to the Secretary of State’s power to give directions to Great British Railways and the licensing of Great British Railways.

Delegated Legislation Committee

16:30: The draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Commons ↘

Introduction of new Peers: At 11:00, two new Labour Peers will be introduced:

• Katie Martin – now Baroness Martin of Brockley – former Chief of Staff to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves; and

• Professor Geeta Nargund – now Baroness Nargund – a senior gynaecologist and founder of the Health Equality Foundation.

Crime and Policing Bill (Committee, day 13 of 15): The House has now reached Part 13 of the Government’s Bill to reform the criminal justice and policing system. Today it will focus on provisions which relate to police disciplinary and complaints procedures. (House of Lords Library briefing)

The House agreed last week that Standing Order 38(1) should be dispensed with at today’s sitting to enable Committee Stage to begin before oral questions. The Standing Order stipulates that oral questions should normally be the first item of business on each sitting day. The debate will be interrupted by oral questions at 14:30 and will resume at approximately 15:15.

At Committee Stage, the House examines the Bill clause-by-clause and decides whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill. The next clauses and groups of amendments to be debated relate to suicide and attempted suicide among police officers and police staff, data on enforcement and police paperwork, the recording of biological sex and ethnicity of offenders, the application of the public sector equality duty to the police, strategies for extremism and faith communities, and injury-in-service awards.

Because amendments that are voted on and defeated at Committee Stage cannot be moved again at Report Stage, many amendments tabled at Committee Stage are probing amendments, designed to test the opinion of the Government or the mood of the wider House before deciding whether to put the amendment to a vote at Report Stage.

Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on Best Start Family Hubs; children’s rights in the immigration system; support for hospitality businesses; and the implications of litigation brought by bereaved parents against TikTok following the deaths of their children.

Select Committee motions: The Senior Deputy Speaker will move 29 motions en bloc – that is, collectively – to change the membership of 25 select committees, as recommended by the Committee of Selection, and to establish four new one-year committees for 2026, as indicated in a previous Bulletin. The membership changes arise from the House’s ‘rotation rule’, under which members who have served on a committee for three successive calendar years may not be reappointed for the following two calendar years. The purpose of the rule is to ensure a regular turnover of membership on each committee. Each January, the Committee of Selection therefore proposes new members to replace those required to rotate off.

Delegated legislation: The House will be asked to approve without debate the draft Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (Application to Immigration Officers and Designated Customs Officials in Northern Ireland) and Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026, which were considered in Grand Committee last week.

Committee Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill will then resume.

Grand Committee

15:45: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Committee, day 2 of 7): The next clauses and groups of amendments to be debated relate to the mayoral veto over decisions of Combined County Authorities, spatial development strategies, ‘established’ mayoral strategic authorities, the appointment of commissioners to assist mayors, scrutiny of mayoral commissioners, and the mayoral precept. At Committee Stage, the House debates whether each clause should be included in the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. Committee Stage is expected to continue in Grand Committee on Thursday. (House of Lords Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston and Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards Sir Laurie Magnus will give evidence on their respective work.

14:00: Defence Committee – Defence Secretary John Healey MP will give evidence on his work, alongside the Ministry of Defence’s Permanent Secretary and the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

House of Lords

10:00: Industry and Regulators Committee – Regulators and growth: The CEOs of the Competition and Markets Authority, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and Ofcom will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Select Committees ↘

Details of Wednesday’s business can be found below.

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Women and Equalities Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include LGBTQ+ rights, non-disclosure agreements, racial equality, health inequalities, women with long-term health conditions, access to work for people with disabilities, and child poverty.

At 12:00, Sir Keir Starmer would ordinarily face the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, at Prime Minister’s Questions. However, he is scheduled to be travelling to China this week so may be unavailable, in which case PMQs will be taken by deputies. The identities of those standing in have not yet been confirmed.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Conservative MP George Freeman will seek to introduce a Flooding Bill under the Ten Minute Rule which allows MPs to give a ten-minute speech in favour of a Bill before seeking the House’s permission to introduce it. The Bill would make provision about flood prevention, local flood authorities and Internal Drainage Boards, flood compensation and reinsurance, and the responsibilities of developers and water companies.

Opposition Day (Conservatives): This is the 16th of 20 Opposition Days scheduled this Session – days when Government business does not have priority and precedence is instead given to motions tabled by opposition parties. As this is a Conservative Opposition Day, the subject will be chosen by the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch. Specific details of the motion(s) to be debated may not be made known until Wednesday’s Order Paper is published.

Adjournment: Liberal Democrat MP Pippa Heylings will give a speech on the distribution of education funding. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: Children’s services in local authorities (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: Non-compliance animal testing incidents in laboratories (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POSTnote)

14:30: The impact of environmental, social and governance requirements on the defence industry (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Restoration of the Ivanhoe Line

16:30: Potential merits of mandatory medical markers for firearm licence holders (House of Commons Library briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committee

14:30: The draft Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority Order 2026, and the draft Cumbria Combined Authority Order 2026.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 15:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on funding of the Music and Dance Scheme; performance of startup companies in the UK; and sustainable water management solutions to address flooding events and protracted droughts in Yorkshire. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 26 January.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Report, day 4 of 5): The next groups of amendments to be debated relate to child poverty targets, the cost of school uniforms, withdrawing children from school, and registers of children not in school. At Report Stage, the whole House decides whether any amendments should be made, or new clauses added, to the Bill. Similar amendments and new clauses will be grouped together for debate, to prevent repetition and create a more focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2026: These draft Regulations would implement a transitional relief scheme to support businesses following the recently announced business rates revaluation due to come into effect in April. The aim is to smooth the transition from the old rateable values to the revalued amounts over a longer time-period by capping the annual percentage increases that any individual business may face. The scheme is separate from the Government’s additional plans to provide targeted business rate support for pubs.

Since the Regulations are subject to the draft affirmative procedure, Ministers may only sign them into law once they have been debated and approved by both Houses.

The Conservative peer Lord Jamieson has tabled a regret motion – which allows the House to express concerns about a Statutory Instrument without formally rejecting it – regretting “significant reductions in business rate discounts arising from the draft Regulations” and the lack of a public consultation.

Grand Committee: From 16:15, Peers will debate four draft Statutory Instruments:

• Medical Devices (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Carer’s Assistance) (Consequential Modifications) Order 2026;

• Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025; and

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:30: Home Affairs Committee – Harnessing the potential of new digital forms of identification: Experts and academics in the field of digital ID will give evidence.

14:30: Environmental Audit Committee – The Chair and Chief Executive of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) will give evidence on the OEP’s work.

15:00: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds MP will give evidence on the work of the Cabinet Office.

15:00: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee – Unlocking community energy at scale: Representatives from Great British Energy and Ofgem will give evidence followed at 16:00 by Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP and the Director of Clear Energy and Investment at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

House of Lords

10:00: Environment and Climate Change Committee – The Chair and Chief Executive of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) will give evidence on the OEP’s work.

10:30: Constitution Committee – Review of the UK–Overseas Territories Joint Declaration: Former Minister for the Overseas Territories David Rutley will give evidence.

11:30: International Relations and Defence Committee – The UK’s future relationship with the US: The German Marshall Fund of the United States think tank will give evidence.

Joint

14:15: Joint Committee on Human Rights – Legislative scrutiny of the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: The Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner, the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, a former Chief of the Defence Staff, and academics and legal experts will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Select Committees ↘

Questions and statements: At 09:30, Business and Trade Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include commercial energy costs, support for pubs, trade with the EU, investment in Scottish industries, economic growth in coastal communities, the Royal Mail universal service obligation, public infrastructure projects, support for exporters, support for the hospitality sector, arms exports to Israel, the life sciences industry, and workers’ rights.

Any Urgent Questions will follow.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Sir Alan Campbell MP, will present the weekly Business Statement, setting out the business in the House for the next couple of weeks and answering questions about anything that Members might want debated. Any Ministerial Statements will follow.

Select Committee Statement: Paulette Hamilton MP, a member of the Health and Social Care Committee, will make a statement about the Committee’s new report, First 1000 Days: a renewed focus.

Select Committees can ask the Backbench Business Committee for time to make statements on the launch of inquiries or the publication of a report. These statements are usually delivered in the Chamber during backbench business time on Thursdays. A statement consists of a 10-minute speech from a member of the Select Committee, during which interventions are not permitted, followed by 10 minutes of questions from MPs, to which the Select Committee member responds.

General debate on Holocaust Memorial Day: This debate topic was chosen by the Backbench Business Committee following an application by Labour MP Peter Prinsley, supported by Conservative MP Sir Oliver Dowden and Liberal Democrat MP Tom Morrison. In his application, Prinsley noted that the House often holds a debate to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, with sixteen such annual debates having taken place since the Day was established in 1999. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Adjournment: Labour MP Jonathan Brash will give a speech on Government support for non-league football. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

13:30: Non-recognition of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (House of Commons Library briefing)

15:00: Protecting and restoring river habitats (House of Commons Library briefing / Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POSTnote)

Public Bill Committees

11:30 and 14:00: Finance (No. 2) Bill (Committee, day 2): The Committee will resume its scrutiny of clauses and amendments from the point it reached at Tuesday’s sitting.

11:30 and 14:00: Railways Bill (Committee, day 4): The Committee will resume its scrutiny of clauses and amendments from the point it reached at Tuesday’s sitting.

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Introduction of new Peers: At 11:00, two new Peers – one Labour and one Conservative – will be introduced:

• Peter Babudu – now Lord Babudu – former Labour councillor known for his work in urban health; and

• Simon Heffer – peerage title yet to be announced – historian and columnist.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on fines on water companies; the Erasmus+ scheme; and the decline in public trust in politics. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 27 January.

General debate on UK–EU customs union and single market: The House will debate the case for a UK–EU customs union and the impact of connections with the EU single market on the United Kingdom economy. The debate will be led by former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords Lord Newby. (House of Lords Library briefing)

General debate on UK development partnership assistance: The House will debate the role of UK development partnership assistance in diplomacy, conflict resolution and the exercise of soft power. The debate will be led by Liberal Democrat peer and former Coalition Minister Baroness Featherstone.

Short debate on superintelligent AI: The House will hold a one-hour debate on the Government’s plans, if any, to bring forward proposals for an international moratorium on the development of superintelligent AI.

Grand Committee

13:00: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Committee, day 3 of 7): At Committee Stage, the House examines the Bill clause-by-clause and decides whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. The House will continue its scrutiny of clauses and amendments from the point reached by the House at Tuesday’s Grand Committee sitting. (House of Lords Library briefing)

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No public Select Committee meetings are scheduled for today.

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The House will not be sitting.

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Private Members’ Bills (PMBs): The House will meet at 10:00 to further consider non-Government Bills.

Secure 16 to 19 Academies Bill (Third Reading): This Bill, which has already been passed by the Commons, has not been amended in the Lords, so is set for its final stage prior to becoming law. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Committee, day 8):

At Committee Stage, the House must decide whether each clause and schedule should remain in this Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, and whether any amendments should be made or new clauses and schedules added. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Amendments can be grouped and debated together to keep the discussion focussed and coherent and to avoid unnecessary repetition. To date, the Government Whips have organised the amendments into 84 groups, of which just 20 groups have been debated:

• First sitting (14 November 2025): 2 groups;

• Second sitting (21 November 2025): 1 group;

• Third sitting (5 December 2025): 3 groups;

• Fourth sitting (12 December 2025): 4 groups;

• Fifth sitting (9 January 2026): 2 groups;

• Sixth sitting (16 January 2026): 3 groups;

• Seventh sitting (23 January 2026): 5 groups (of which one group was not moved, and therefore no debate took place on it).

After today, six further sitting Fridays have been scheduled for consideration of the Bill between now and the end of April (6 and 27 February, 13, 20 and 27 March and 24 April.) Following a motion tabled by the Bill’s sponsor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, and agreed by the House earlier this month, the Government announced that the House would now sit until later on the remaining Fridays allocated to the Bill. The usual rising time on a Friday is 15:00; the Government has suggested that the House instead sit until around 18:00, providing an additional three hours of debating time each day. Offsetting this, the Government has also indicated that a 40-minute lunch break will be taken during each of those Fridays.

A new marshalled list (a numbered list which sets out all the amendments to reflect their position in relation to where they apply to the Bill) will be published before today’s sitting starts (under the Amendment Paper section of the Publications tab on the Bill page on the parliamentary website). An updated list of the groups of amendments may also be published and Lord Falconer will indicate how many of these groups he hopes will be debated today.

↖ Contents · Skip to Looking ahead ↘

Both Houses will resume at 14:30 on Monday 2 February 2026. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 1 February.

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