Questions and statements: At 14:30, Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include financial support for new unitary authorities, leasehold reform, support for high streets and lead-based hazards in homes.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Main business: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Report Stage, day 1). This Bill reforms the planning system, including the local government planning process, compulsory purchase, environmental obligations, and major infrastructure projects. We outlined the Bill’s main provisions in an earlier edition of this Bulletin. (House of Commons Library briefing)

At Report Stage, the whole House debates and votes on proposed amendments and new clauses. Two days have been allocated for Report Stage, a relatively rare occurrence typically reserved for larger and more controversial bills. Only three other bills – the Employment Rights Bill, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and (by the end of this week) the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – have had two days of Report Stage during this Session.

Before the debate can begin, the House will need to consider a programme motion for the Bill, which will determine the structure and timings of debate over the two allocated days. The motion tabled by the Government clarifies that on the first day of Report Stage, the House will consider amendments to Parts 1 to 3, which contain the Bill’s provisions in relation to infrastructure, planning, and environmental delivery plans. This will also include any new clauses and new schedules related to the same subject matter. On the second day of Report Stage, the House will consider amendments and new clauses or schedules for Parts 4 to 6, which concern development corporations, compulsory purchase and general provisions.

Only Government amendments and any amendments selected for separate decision by the Speaker – most likely those proposed by Conservative frontbenchers – will be put to the House for a vote at the end of each day. Amendments originate from three main sources:

• Government amendments: The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner MP, has tabled 30 amendments to her own legislation, which make largely drafting and technical changes, particularly for developments that affect marine or coastal areas.

• Conservative amendments: The party’s spokesperson, David Simmonds MP, has tabled 16 amendments and new clauses, including to: prohibit solar projects on high-quality agricultural land; require a review of the assessment of local housing need; allow new towns to count towards local housing targets; amend the compensation payments for compulsory purchase; extend to villages the protections for towns against merging with other towns; prohibit planning approval where unauthorised development has taken place in advance; require development strategies to prioritise brownfield land; limit the changes to housing targets by spatial development strategies; and amend the process for drawing up environmental delivery plans.

• Liberal Democrat amendments: The party’s spokesperson, Gideon Amos MP, has tabled 46 amendments and new clauses. These include requiring all new car parks to have solar farms, adding more detail to plans to award financial benefits to those living near electricity transmission infrastructure, creating a register of planning applications made by political donors, removing the skeleton-like clause in relation to planning committees, and making amendments to the list of statutory consultees for major infrastructure project subject to parliamentary approval.

Motion to approve Statutory Instrument: MPs will be asked to approve the draft Payment Services and Payment Accounts (Contract Termination) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. The Regulations have already been debated in a Delegated Legislation Committee, so the House will be asked to vote on them without debate.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Jo White has the adjournment debate, on breast cancer screening rates in Bassetlaw.

Westminster Hall: MPs will debate e-petition 700557, which calls for non-stun animal slaughter to be banned in the UK. The petition has acquired over 109,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Legislative committee:

• Delegated Legislation Committee meeting today: to consider the draft Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 (Extension of Duration of Non-jury Trial Provisions) Order 2025.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on plans for an annual limit on political party election spending; the UN International Day of Peace; the risk of legal challenges when fighting alongside states that are not parties to the Cluster Munitions Convention; and the impact of increases to National Insurance on the social care and special education sectors.

Motions to approve Statutory Instruments (SIs): Motions to approve two draft SIs will be moved together (en bloc) by the Government. Both SIs were considered in Grand Committee last Thursday, 5 June. If any Peer objects, the approval motions will have to be moved separately. The two SIs are: the Pension Fund Clearing Obligation Exemption (Amendment) Regulations 2025 and the Payment Services and Payment Accounts (Contract Termination) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

Main business: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Committee Stage, day 3). This is the third of seven days that the Government Whips have provisionally scheduled for the Bill’s Committee Stage, with the final sitting expected to take place on Monday 23 June. The next set of amendments to be considered in Committee relate to the protection of children from abuse, child neglect, corporal punishment, family support services, kinship families, and children in care. (House of Lords Library briefing)

The Official Controls (Plant Health) and Phytosanitary Conditions (Amendment) Regulations 2025. These regulations update the protective measures and import controls against high-risk pests of plants. The regulations were signed into law on 7 January, laid before Parliament the following day and came into force on 30 January. Under the negative scrutiny procedure, an Instrument remains in law unless a motion is passed by either House to annul it within 40 days; however, that 40-day period has long since expired. Nevertheless, a motion to regret the regulations has been tabled by the UK’s former Chief Negotiator for Brexit, Lord (David) Frost who argues that the regulations provide for further constitutional separation between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. A regret motion expresses concerns about an instrument without blocking or revoking it.

Grand Committee: Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill (Committee Stage, day 2). Peers will continue their clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, as well as debating any proposed amendments, in the second of six scheduled sittings. The next clauses and amendments to be considered by the Committee relate to court oversight of recoverable amounts and penalties resulting from fraud or error. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Public Accounts Committee (15:30): Dame Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as well as officials from the Environment Agency, Ofwat, the Consumer Council for Water, and Water UK, will all give evidence on water sector regulation.

House of Lords

• Home-based Working Committee (14:15): Senior executives from Compare the Market, the Nationwide Building Society, MakeUK and techUK will give evidence on the effects and future development of home-based working in the UK.

• Autism Act 2009 Committee (14:45): A number of experts, campaigners and business sector representatives will discuss the impact of the Autism Act.

• UK Engagement with Space Committee (15:35): Representatives from the European Space Agency, the European Space Policy Institute and George Washington University in Washington DC will discuss UK policies relating to space.

Joint

• National Security Strategy Committee (16:30): Experts in submarine and subsea cables, and representatives from UK Finance, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and London Ambulance Service will give evidence on the consequences that would flow from any act of sabotage on the cables that connect the UK to the outside world.

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

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Private Business: Royal Albert Hall Bill [Lords] (Second Reading). For the sixth time Sir Christopher Chope has indicated on the Order Paper that he will once again block this controversial Private Bill from being approved without a debate (using the procedural mechanism of tabling a motion “That the Bill be read a second time upon this day in six months”). See a previous Bulletin for an explanation of the obscure procedural rules applicable to Private Bills in general and this one in particular. We also discussed the Royal Albert Hall Bill in a recent episode of our Parliament Matters podcast.

Questions and statements: Shortly after 11:30, Energy Security and Net Zero Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include the progress made on advancing the Track-2 Acorn cluster, reliance on fossil fuels, support for rooftop solar power projects, increasing grid capacity, additional jobs in the clean power industries in the last year, and the impact of extending the Warm Homes Discount to all households in receipt of means-tested benefits.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: The Conservative MP Nick Timothy will seek to introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Freedom of Expression (Religion or Belief System) Bill. The Bill would extend protections in the Public Order Act 1986 from covering offences specifically relating to religious hatred to cover general harassment offences under the Act. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Main business:

Data (Use and Access) Bill (Consideration of a Lords message): The only remaining point of contention between the two Houses is the issue of AI model transparency.

During the Bill’s initial passage through the Lords, Peers added a new clause to the Bill tabled by Crossbencher Baroness Kidron, a former film director who has been advocating on behalf of the creative sector. Her new clause would have required AI companies to publish monthly reports outlining how they have used web crawlers and bots to train their AI models. This was intended to help copyright holders identify whether their content had been used.

The Government removed the provision during the Bill’s passage through the Commons. The House of Lords accepted the removal of its original provision, but proposed a narrower alternative version with improved drafting, which was similarly rejected by the Government in the Commons, though this time the Government controversially invoked financial privilege, the principle that grants the Commons primacy over matters relating to public finances and expenditure, as the reason for rejecting it.

In response, the Lords backed a third version of the clause, once again proposed by Baroness Kidron. This version aimed to avoid triggering financial privilege by specifying only that any regulations made under the new clause “may” include enforcement provisions, rather than “must”, as in the earlier iteration. This third version was also rejected, with the House of Commons again citing financial privilege as the reason.

In response, Baroness Kidron proposed a further revision of the clause, calling for the Government to publish a draft Bill setting out legislative proposals to ensure greater transparency for copyright owners regarding the use of their works in training AI models. The Bill would include provisions enabling rights holders to identify whether and how their works have been used and would be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by parliamentary select committees. The House of Commons once again rejected the amendment outright, arguing that it was unnecessary since the Bill already includes a requirement for an economic impact assessment and report on AI, which must be published and laid before Parliament.

Rather than proposing yet another alternative amendment in response, last week the Lords took a different approach, instead choosing to insist on its last amendment, namely the proposal for a draft Bill. This forces the Government in the House of Commons to make the following choice at today’s sitting:

• accept the Lords amendment;

• insist on its disagreement with the Lords amendment, but propose an amendment in lieu; or

• insist on its disagreement with the Lords amendment and propose no alternative of its own.

However, unlike on previous occasions – when the Government rejected the Lords’ proposals outright without offering an alternative – doing so this time would risk creating a situation of “double insistence”. This occurs when both Houses refuse to back down and insist on their positions without compromise – a scenario which, by convention, is understood to kill a bill.

As a result, the Government has chosen to table amendments in lieu, rather than reject the substance of the Lords proposals. These amendments would revise two existing requirements in the Bill: the obligation to produce an economic impact assessment and a report – both focused on a range of policy options relating to AI and copyright, to be completed within 12 months of the Bill becoming law. If the House of Commons agrees to these three compromise amendments, they would:

• shorten the deadline for publishing the economic assessment and report from 12 months to nine;

• broaden the scope of the report to include enforcement options and proposals for regulating the use of copyright works by AI systems and web crawlers; and

• introduce a requirement for the Government to publish a progress report on both the assessment and report within six months.

If these amendments are agreed by the Commons, the Lords will then have to consider its response to them later this week. Baroness Kidron indicated in the previous round of ping-pong on 4 June that having insisted on her amendment for the second time, she would accept whatever decision the Commons made in response. Respecting the primacy of the elected House, she would not press the matter further. It is anticipated that a resolution of this outstanding question will therefore be reached this week.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Report Stage, day 2; and Third Reading). In accordance with the programme motion set to be approved on Monday, the House will consider amendments to Parts 4 to 6 of the Bill, relating to development corporations, compulsory purchase and general provisions. This will also include any new clauses and new schedules related to those subject areas.

Adjournment: Labour MP Joe Powell has the adjournment debate, about the eighth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on:

• the USAID funding pause and its impact on UK international development (House of Commons Library briefing);

• tackling demand for prostitution and sex trafficking;

• introducing a tax and benefits exemption for payments to UK residents from the Republic of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme (House of Commons Library briefing);

• support for people with ADHD (POSTnote); and

• Government support for mass transit in West Yorkshire (POSTnote).

Legislative committees:

• Football Governance Bill: The bill will receive its third day of examination by its Public Bill Committee.

• Mental Health Bill: A Public Bill Committee begins consideration of the bill today.

• Delegated Legislation Committee: To consider the draft Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) (Relevant Public Authorities and Designated Senior Officers) Regulations 2025.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on reducing delays for taking a driving test; the rise in corporate liquidations; the seizure of illegally used electric cycles; and whether the Government plans to review the operation of section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

Motions to approve Statutory Instruments (SIs): Motions to approve five draft SIs will be moved together (en bloc) by the Government, all of which were considered in Grand Committee last Thursday, 5 June. If any Peer objects, then the approval motions will have to be moved separately. The five SIs are:

• the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) (England and Wales) Order 2025;

• the National Security Act 2023 (Foreign Activities and Foreign Influence Registration Scheme: Exemptions for Certain Foreign Power Investment Funds, Education, Government Administration and Public Bodies) Regulations 2025;

• the National Security Act 2023 (Foreign Activities and Foreign Influence Registration Scheme: Publication) Regulations 2025;

• the National Security Act 2023 (Foreign Activities and Foreign Influence Registration Scheme: Specified Persons) (Iran) Regulations 2025; and

• the National Security Act 2023 (Foreign Activities and Foreign Influence Registration Scheme: Specified Persons) (Russia) Regulations 2025.

Main business:

Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill (Third Reading): This is the Government’s Bill to block the proposed new guideline on the imposition of community and custodial sentences published by the Sentencing Council. Specifically, it would prohibit any sentencing guideline being framed by reference to an offender’s personal characteristics, particularly race, religion, and cultural background, when determining the need for a pre-sentence report. As there were no amendments made in Committee or at Report Stage, it is expected that Third Reading will be a relative formality, and the Bill will soon proceed to Royal Assent. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Employment Rights Bill (Committee Stage, day 8): This Bill reaches its eighth day in Committee today, making it the longest Committee Stage of the Session so far. The Government Whips had initially planned to conclude proceedings by the seventh sitting on Thursday 5 June. However, slower than expected progress in the early sittings has led to the addition of this extra day. There are still 43 groups of amendments for the Committee to dispense with at this final sitting. Therefore, the Whips have once again extended Committee Stage, adding two further sittings, on Monday 16 and Wednesday 18 June. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (09:30): Lord Vallance of Balham, the Science Minister, plus officials from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will give evidence to the Committee’s “innovation showcase” inquiry looking at whether the UK does enough to champion science and tech start-ups and scale-ups.

• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (10:00): Lord Pickles, the former Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments will give evidence on ACoBA’s work.

• Foreign Affairs Committee (10:15): Sir David Natzler, former Clerk of the House of Commons, plus experts in international sanctions law, will give evidence on the UK’s sanctions strategy.

• Committee on Standards (10:30): Doug Chalmers, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and Mark Swindells, the Assistant Director of Public Affairs at the General Medical Council, will give evidence in relation to MPs’ outside employment and interests.

• Modernisation Committee (11:40): Dr Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society, will give evidence on access to the House of Commons and its procedures.

• Home Affairs Committee (14:30): Dame Angela Eagle MP, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Home Office officials, and the Director of Asylum Services at Migrant Help will give evidence on asylum accommodation.

• Defence Committee (15:00): Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, will give evidence about his work at the Ministry of Defence.

House of Lords

• Science and Technology Committee (10:15): Representatives from the German and Swedish Innovation Agencies will give evidence to the inquiry on financing and scaling UK Science and Technology.

• Communications and Digital Committee (14:00): Catherine McKinnell MP, Minister for School Standards, and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Minister for the Future Digital Economy and Online Safety, will give evidence alongside their departmental officials, on media literacy.

• International Agreements Committee (16:00): Catherine West MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and Naomi Davey, Legal Director at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, will give evidence on treaty scrutiny.

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

Details of Wednesday’s business can be found below.

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Wales Office Ministers will face questions from MPs. Questions on the Order Paper concern devolving the Crown Estate, defence spending, Wales’ place in the Union, support for clean energy, and the impact of the Welsh Government’s proposed visitor levy.

Prime Minister’s Questions: At 12:00, Sir Keir Starmer will face the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, at PMQs.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Spending Review 2025: The Chancellor of the Exchequer will make a statement to the House about the outcome of the Spending Review. (House of Commons Library briefing)

This will set out the public spending plans for the predictable elements of spending for each Government Department – known as Departmental Expenditure Limits (DELs). The expenditure for each department is split into two elements:

• resource spending (RDEL), which includes day-to-day operational costs such as rent, salaries, supplies and administration; and

• capital spending (CDEL), which includes investment in assets such as buildings and infrastructure.

The Spending Review will set out the RDEL for three financial years (2026-27 to 2028-29) and the CDEL for four financial years (extending to 2029-30).

The House of Commons Library estimates that the Review covers about 40% of all public spending. It does not include demand-driven expenditure that cannot easily be planned for (known as Annually Managed Expenditure) which is subject to annual fluctuation – such as benefits, pensions and debt interest payments.

There is no immediate parliamentary approval procedure attached to a Spending Review statement. Unlike the Budget – where MPs debate formal Budget resolutions over several days, which then form the basis for the Finance Bill – today MPs can only question the Chancellor following her oral statement.

However, MPs will have to approve the departmental expenditure plans through the Estimates cycle when the Government formally makes a request for the money each financial year. Later this month the House of Commons will be asked to approve the Main Estimates for departmental spending in the current financial year, which will form the basis for this year’s Supply and Appropriations Bill.

The spending outlined in the Spending Review will thus emerge in next year’s Estimates process. The first stage of the Estimates cycle, the Vote on Account, will likely take place in February 2026 when approval will be needed for approximately 45% of departmental spending plans before the start of the 2026-27 financial year on 1 April. The balance of the annual expenditure limits will then be dealt with through the Main Estimates next summer.

The Hansard Society’s guide to how Parliament debates and approves Government spending provides more information on the Estimates process. You can also listen to our Director, Dr Ruth Fox, discuss the Spending Review and Estimates process in last Friday’s episode (6 June) of BBC Radio 4’s Today in Parliament (from 21 minutes and 26 seconds).

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Labour MP Anneliese Midgley will seek to introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Letter Boxes (Positioning) Bill. This legislation would amend building regulations to require letter boxes in new buildings and new front doors to be positioned in accordance with the British and European Standard.

Main business: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (Second Reading). This Bill is intended to ensure stability in the pricing of non-petroleum aviation fuel, with price guarantees funded by a levy on aviation fuel suppliers.

At Second Reading, MPs debate the principles underlying the Bill. They do not propose amendments to the Bill’s text at this stage. However, opponents may table a ‘reasoned amendment’ – a procedural device to reject the Bill while formally stating why. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Adjournment: Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has the adjournment debate, on the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on:

• the impact of the space industry on the economy (House of Commons Library briefing);

• sentencing for the theft of tools of trade;

• child poverty and No Recourse to Public Funds (House of Commons Library briefing);

• outdoor education; and

• NHS funding in the South West (House of Commons Library briefing).

Legislative committees:

• Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill: This Private Member’s Bill came 12th in the sessional ballot but passed through Second Reading on 17 January so has progressed to Committee Stage more quickly than other PMBs placed higher in the ballot. The Bill would amend electoral law to make it easier for voters in Scotland and Wales to apply for a postal or proxy vote. It would allow online applications for absent voting in devolved elections via the UK Digital Service and would align postal vote renewal periods with the new UK standard, shortening them from five years to three. The Bill’s Explanatory Notes were prepared by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, suggesting that this is a “handout bill” drafted by the Government and that it will support it to become law.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the protection of children online; the Government’s economic growth mission; and the jobs market. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 9 June.

Main business:

Armed Forces Commissioner Bill (Consideration of Commons Amendments). Last Tuesday (3 June), the House of Commons agreed to five Lords amendments proposed by the Government, but disagreed with two other Lords amendments proposed by the Opposition, relating to whistleblowing. The Commons offered an alternative amendment of its own in lieu of these “well intentioned” amendments, instead requiring the identity of complainants to be kept confidential. The Lords now has to consider whether to accept this alternative, in which case the Bill will be ready for Royal Assent.

Holocaust Memorial Bill (Report Stage). This Bill, which began in the Commons in 2023 before being carried over after the General Election, amends planning restrictions to enable a new Holocaust memorial and learning centre to be constructed in Victoria Tower Gardens, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament.

The Bill has been categorised as a hybrid bill. The typical definition of a hybrid bill is a public bill – a bill which applies to the population as a whole – that nevertheless affects particular private interests in a manner different from the private interests of other persons or bodies of the same category or class. In this case, it was determined that the Bill would affect the private interests of local residents more than the public in general.

Having been categorised as hybrid, the Bill has been subject to an extended scrutiny process. Before reaching Committee Stage, it was referred to a select committee. This allows individuals directly affected by the Bill who have submitted petitions against it to give evidence. The hybrid bill process was explored in detail by former House of Commons Clerk Paul Evans on our blog last year, with particular reference to the Holocaust Memorial Bill. (House of Lords Library briefing)

The Bill is controversial, with 18 petitions lodged against it – some from members of the House of Lords. Several amendments have been tabled, including proposals to:

• prevent the learning centre from being constructed underground;

• require a report on the memorial’s security implications;

• restrict the learning centre’s purpose solely to education about antisemitism and the genocide of the Jews;

• require any new planning application to consider alternative sites;

• require parliamentary approval of planning consent for the site;

• require a public inquiry before planning consent can be granted;

• ensure the memorial does not impede the ongoing Restoration and Renewal of Parliament;

• require a report to be produced on fire safety, flood precautions and evacuation measures; and

• require approval from heritage bodies before planning consent is given.

Grand Committee: Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill (Committee Stage, day 3). This is the third of six days of Committee Stage on the Bill. The Committee will resume its consideration today at the point in the Bill reached at its preceding sitting on Monday (see above).

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Transport Committee (09:15): Representatives from train manufacturers will give evidence on ending boom and bust in the rail supply sector.

• Work and Pensions Committee (09:30): Alison McGovern MP, Minister for Employment, will give evidence on reforming jobcentres alongside officials from the Department for Work and Pensions.

• Defence Committee (10:00): Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, General Sir Richard Barrons and Dr Fiona Hill – the three reviewers who led the Strategic Defence Review – will give evidence following its publication last week.

• Women and Equalities Committee (14:20): Baroness Falkner of Margravine and John Kirkpatrick, the Chairwoman and the Chief Executive respectively of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, will give evidence about the organisation’s work.

House of Lords

• International Relations and Defence Committee (10:00): Academics including Professor Philippe Sands KC and Professor Richard Ekins KC will give evidence on the implications of the transfer of sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago.

Joint

• Human Rights Committee (14:15): The Chief Constable of Gwent Police will give evidence alongside a criminologist and representatives of Justice and Resolve, regarding the Crime and Policing Bill.

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

Private business: Norwich Livestock Market Bill (Second Reading). This is a private bill, as it affects particular individuals or organisations rather than the public in general. The Bill would allow its promoter, Norwich City Council, to relocate Norwich Livestock Market to a location outside the City. Under Commons Standing Orders Relating to Private Business, no time is allowed for debate at this point, but the bill can only proceed if unopposed, as explained more fully in a previous bulletin.

Questions and statements: Shortly after 09:30, Business and Trade Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics on the Order Paper include the effectiveness of the UK’s trade agreements programme, the UK–India Free Trade Agreement, support for small businesses, industrial strategy development, and support for small and medium-sized bicycle manufacturers.

Any Urgent Questions will follow.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, will present her weekly Business Statement, setting out the business in the House for the next couple of weeks. Any other Ministerial Statements will follow.

Select Committee Statement: Liam Byrne MP, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, will make a statement on the Committee’s latest report, Industrial Strategy. The Committee warns that a “once in a century” opportunity will be lost “unless the Industrial Strategy is ‘funded to work’ and delivers a sweeping package of pro-growth reforms that can transform the UK’s international competitiveness”. The report particularly highlights the need to cut industrial energy costs that are among the highest in the world and are consequently limiting growth.

Main business: There will be two general debates, the subjects of which were chosen by the Backbench Business Committee:

• Distribution of special educational needs and disabilities funding: This debate is sponsored by Conservative MP Graham Stuart. In his application, he argued that the current SEND debate focused on “the overall quantum rather than the distribution” and that his local authority has the lowest funding of all. (POSTnote)

• The fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic: This debate is sponsored by Labour MP James Asser. In his application, he argued that “the pandemic affected every community and every constituency” and the debate would be “a good opportunity to remember all those stories”.

Adjournment: Labour MP Chris McDonald has the adjournment debate, on the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Westminster Hall: There are two debates today, on:

• the legal recognition of humanist marriages (House of Commons Library briefing and recent ministerial correspondence); and

• long-term conditions (House of Commons Library briefing).

Legislative committees: The Public Bill Committees respectively appointed to consider the Football Governance Bill and the Mental Health Bill will each continue their clause-by-clause scrutiny.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day at 11:00 by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on political donations; financial education for young people; and plans to establish an Ethics and Integrity Commission. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 10 June.

Motion to establish a Parliamentary Commercial Department: The Leader of the House of Lords (and Lord Privy Seal) Baroness Smith of Basildon will move a motion to endorse a Report from the House of Lords Commission and to implement its recommendation that a joint department of both Houses be established to support Parliament’s commercial contract functions. The report, Establishing Parliament’s commercial function as a joint department of both Houses was published on 14 May. As the report explains, both Houses agreed in 2014 to bring together their then separate procurement services into one shared service, the Parliamentary Procurement and Commercial Service (PPCS), which was hosted by the House of Lords. In November 2022 a report on financial management in the House of Commons was published following an independent review led by Lord Morse (former Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office). As a result of Lord Morse’s recommendations, significant reforms to improve Parliament’s “commercial operating model” are being introduced. PPCS is now the Parliamentary Commercial Directorate (PCD) and its “capacity and capabilities have been extended.” Both Houses now propose to establish this shared commercial function as a joint department of both Houses under the Parliament (Joint Departments) Act 2007, transferring the staff and functions to provide for a unified management structure, and joint decision-making by and accountability to both Houses.

Main business: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Committee, day 4). This is the fourth of seven days of Committee Stage on the Bill. The Committee will resume its consideration today at the point in the Bill where it concluded at its preceding sitting on Monday.

Grand Committee: There will be four questions for short debate, each of which is time-limited to one hour, on:

• plans to improve the detection, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular illness (House of Lords Library briefing);

• plans to reinstate the UK’s membership of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (House of Lords Library briefing);

• steps being taken to support the craft industry (House of Lords Library briefing); and

• action to reduce the risk, and mitigate the effects, of wildfires (House of Lords Library briefing).

The subjects of these debates were chosen in a ballot on Wednesday 21 May. The ballot for short debates takes place every five sitting weeks.

One committee is due to meet in public today:

House of Commons

• Public Accounts Committee (10:00): Senior staff from HM Revenue and Customs will answer questions in the committee’s inquiry into collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals.

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

Private Members’ Bills (PMBs): Today will see the second day of Report Stage on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. At Report Stage, the whole House debates and votes on amendments to a bill.

The first day of Report Stage took place on 16 May, when the House debated the first of two groups of amendments. To understand what will happen on the second day, it is necessary to understand the structure of Report Stage and what happened on the first day. To follow the process it is also necessary to consult two papers:

• the “Speaker’s provisional grouping and selection of Amendments (Final) 16 May 2025” (under the “Selection of amendments: Commons” sub-heading on the publications section of the Bill page); and

• the “Notices of Amendments” (amendments can be tabled by MPs until the House rises on Tuesday 10 June so the most up-to-date amendment paper will also be available on the publications section of the Bill page under the “Amendment Paper” sub-heading).

Selection and grouping of amendments

The Speaker selects which amendments can be debated, based on factors such as the scope of the bill. He then arranges the selected amendments into groups so that amendments that fall under similar themes can be debated together. The intention of grouping is to divide the debate into a series of smaller, more focused debates. The Speaker has, in recent years, typically grouped all Report Stage amendments into a single set for debate on both Government and Private Members’ Bills. The decision to create two separate groups for this Bill thus marks a modest but notable departure from that practice.

Formally, debates on grouped amendments are conducted on the ‘lead amendment’ – the one listed highest on the amendment paper (which is separate from the selection and grouping paper). The debate begins when the lead amendment is moved by its proposer, who – along with other MPs called subsequently to speak – may then address the other amendments within that group during the debate.

For this debate, the themes of the two groups, and their respective lead amendments, are:

• Group 1: obligations, duties and protections for medical practitioners, hospices and care homes; the procedure for receiving assistance under the Act including safeguards and protections; eligibility; and mental capacity (led by New Clause 10); and

• Group 2: approved substances and devices; advertising; inquests; investigations and death certification; guidance and codes of practice; Welsh language; monitoring, consultation and reviews; the Assisted Dying Commissioner; implementation; regulations; extent; and commencement (led by New Clause 13).

When do decisions (votes) take place?

Amendments are grouped only for debate, not for decision.

Not all amendments are guaranteed a vote. To be voted on, an amendment must either be formally “selected for separate decision” by the Speaker or be moved by the Bill’s sponsor – typically a Government minister, but in this case, Kim Leadbeater MP. Among amendments tabled by other MPs, those that have gathered the most supporting signatures are most likely to be chosen by the Speaker for a vote.

If an amendment is selected for a decision, it might not be voted on at the end of the debate on the group that contains it. Indeed, there may be a large gap between debate and decision. Why? Because the order in which amendments are voted on is determined not by the debate groupings, but by the amendment paper.

Arrangement of the amendment paper

The amendment paper at Report Stage is typically arranged in the following order:

1. new clauses (“NC”) – with new clauses proposed by the sponsor of the Bill placed first – and amendments to new clauses;

2. amendments to existing clauses and schedules – arranged in the order in which they apply to the Bill; and

3. new schedules, and amendments to new schedules.

Kim Leadbeater (“KL”) has tabled New Clauses 10 to 15, 20 and 21. These were therefore placed first on the amendment paper with amendment (a) to NC10 in the name of Rebecca Paul MP nestled between the sponsor’s New Clauses 10 and 11. The start of the amendment paper thus looked like this: NC10 [KL], Amendment (a) to NC10 [Paul]; NC11 [KL]; NC12 [KL]; NC13 [KL]; NC14 [KL]; and so on.

The key rule is this: an amendment can be voted on at the end of the debate on a group only if it appears on the amendment paper earlier than the lead amendment in the subsequent group.

In this case, because the lead amendment in the second group is NC13, the only amendments that could have been voted on at the end of debate on the first group on 16 May were: NC10, NC10(a), NC11, and NC12.

On the first day of Report on 16 May, the Speaker indicated that he was selecting only one amendment for separate decision: NC10(a). But that was the only amendment available to him to select. Any other amendments in Group 1, debated on 16 May, that the Speaker is inclined to select for separate decision will be put to the House at the end of debate on the second group today.

What happened on day one of Report Stage?

On 16 May, the House completed the debate on Group 1, but there was only time for questions to be put to the House in relation to NC10.

There are three sequential decision-making stages involved in putting New Clauses to the House at Report Stage:

1. the question that the New Clause be “read a second time”;

2. the questions on any amendments to the New Clause; and

3. the question that the New Clause (amended or unamended) should be added to the Bill.

The debate on Group 1 on 16 May therefore formally took place on the question that New Clause 10 (NC10) be “read a second time”.

After several hours’ debate, towards the end of the sitting, the House was asked to consider whether it wished to move from debate to decision. Kit Malthouse MP claimed the ‘closure’ and the Speaker agreed to put the motion “that the Question be now put” to the House. MPs agreed, on a division, that debate should indeed end so that they could proceed to a decision on New Clause 10.

• The House then agreed, without a division, that New Clause 10 be “read a second time”.

• Then the House rejected, on a division, Rebecca Paul’s amendment (a) to New Clause 10.

However, by the end of the division on NC10(a), the clock had ticked past 14:30. On a Friday this is the time known as “the moment of interruption" – questions can only be agreed after this time if they are unopposed. So, when the Speaker put the third question – that NC10 should be added unamended to the Bill – a single shout of “No” was sufficient to delay the vote on that question.

So, what will happen procedurally on 13 June?

• First, the Speaker will put the outstanding question that New Clause 10 be added to the Bill. This may be agreed without a formal division (it may be taken on a voice vote).

• Second, any amendments or new clauses that fall before New Clause 13 on the amendment paper will be put to the House. This is only New Clause 11 and New Clause 12. These may also be agreed without a division as they are safeguards that the Bill’s sponsor has agreed to introduce.

• Third, Kim Leadbeater will move New Clause 13 formally, and a debate will then take place on the Group 2 amendments.

• Fourth, some time well before 14:30 a Member will need to claim the closure – that is, to seek to end the debate so that the House can move from discussion to decision. This may require a division, as it did on 16 May. The Speaker need not accept the request for the closure at the first time of asking. He must judge whether there has been sufficient time for debate. Two factors are pertinent in relation to the time at which the closure is claimed and when it is granted: – first, more time will be needed for decisions (divisions) today than on 16 May, as MPs will need to make a decision on both the outstanding amendments for decision in Group 1 and any selected for decision in Group 2; and – some of the Group 2 amendments that will be debated today cover more technical content than matters of policy principle (compared with Group 1) and therefore may require less time for discussion.

• Fifth, the questions on any amendments or new clauses selected for separate decision by the Speaker in both Group 1 and Group 2 will be put to the House, in the order that they appear on the amendment paper. Those amendments which have attracted the highest number of supporting signatures may be among those chosen by the Speaker.

If votes on all the amendments selected by the Speaker for a decision are not completed before 14:30 then a third day of Report Stage consideration will be required. This would likely be the next sitting Friday for Private Members' Bills scheduled for 20 June, one week from today. Assuming that only a short period of time would be needed to complete the votes on that day, it is likely that Third Reading would follow immediately afterwards. However, it votes on all the amendments selected by the Speaker for a decision are completed before 14:30 then if there is any remaining time before the “moment of interruption” one of two things could happen:

• The Bill’s Third Reading could begin. However, it is widely expected that, due to the limited remaining time, this will not occur. Instead, Third Reading is likely to take place at the start of the next sitting Friday for Private Members' Bills on 20 June.

• Debate on the Second Reading of the other Private Members’ Bills – ballot bills and presentation bills – listed on the Order Paper could be taken, beginning with Ruth Jones’ Fur (Import and Sale) Bill. At the time of writing this Bill has not yet been published; it will need to be published before 13 June for the Second Reading debate to begin.

At 14:30, any Private Members’ Bills listed for Second Reading on the Order Paper can receive it without debate, if they are unopposed. But if any MP shouts “Object!”, the Bill’s sponsor must choose a future date for Second Reading. Typically, a Government Whip will object to any PMBs the Government does not support. If no one objects, a Private Member’s Bill can pass Second Reading and proceed to the next stage with little or no debate.

Adjournment: Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson has the adjournment debate, on flood prevention in her Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency.

Peers will consider three Private Members’ Bills and a motion to take note of a Select Committee report:

• Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill (Third Reading): Introduced by Lord Thomas of Gresford, this Bill proposes to introduce a new “think again” procedure for Statutory Instruments (SIs). It would give the House of Lords the power to formally request that the House of Commons reconsider specific concerns before deciding whether to approve or reject an SI. The Hansard Society proposed a similar mechanism in our Delegated Legislation Review. But while the Society supports the underlying “think again” principle, we believe that such a procedure would be more appropriately introduced through changes to the Standing Orders of both Houses rather than through primary legislation. (House of Lords Library briefing)

• Motion to take note: Baroness Stowell of Beeston, the recent former Chair of the Communications and Digital Committee, will move a motion that the House take note of a report published by the Committee in February: AI and creative technology scaleups: less talk, more action. The report warns that the UK is at risk of becoming an “incubator economy” unless the country improves support for AI and creative tech start-up companies to grow into global competitors. (House of Lords Library briefing)

• Environmental Targets (Public Authorities) Bill (Committee Stage): Introduced by Lord Krebs, this Bill proposes to create a new legal requirement for public bodies to contribute towards the environmental targets in the Environment Act 2021. (House of Lords Library briefing)

• Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill (Committee Stage): Introduced by Baroness Lister of Burtersett, this Bill proposes to increase the period of post-decision support provided by the Home Office to recognised refugees – from the current 28 days to 56 days – after their asylum claim has been approved. (House of Lords Library briefing)

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