Business of the House — Standing Orders on Carrying Over Finance and Appropriation Bills to a New Parliament — 14 Dec 2011 at 14:12

The majority of MPs voted in favour of changes to the House of Commons standing orders designed to smooth the progress of finance bills through the House of Commons when they are carried over from one session of Parliament to the next.

Each Parliamentary session runs from a state opening of Parliament until a prorogation^[1]. Bills under consideration at prorogation are dropped unless a specific motion to carry them over to the next session has been passed.

The amendments to the standing orders contained within the motion^[2] supported by the majority of MPs in this vote made the existing procedures^[3] relating to the timing of a vote on carrying over a Bill to a subsequent session of Parliament cease to apply to finance related Bills, or as they are formally known, ways and means Bills. The replacement standing order introduced required such a motion to be put "forthwith" if it was moved on, or before, the day a Bill is read a second time whereas previously the requirement for the motion to be put "forthwith" only applied on the day of second reading.

The new standing order provides for a carried over Ways and Means Bill to be read a first time without the question put, and to be read a second time without the question put if it had been read a second time in the previous Parliament.

The old, and new, standing orders ensured consideration in committee could continue where it had left off prior to prorogation.

The new standing order additionally provided that:

• Notices of amendments, new clauses and new schedules given in respect of parts of the bill not disposed of in the first Session shall be reprinted as notices in respect of the bill as presented and proceeded with under paragraph

Ways and means Bills are the means by which the financial measures contained within the Budget are brought in^[4], they include measures related to the raising of taxation and the appropriation of expenditure.

• [1] Parliament's Glossary entry for Prorogation
• [2] House of Commons 14 December 2011
• [3] House of Commons standing order 80A (Carry-over of bills) as at the time of the vote.
• [4] Parliament's webpage on the The Chairman of Ways and Means/Deputy Speakers

Debate in Parliament | Source |