Second Reading (House of Commons)
After its first reading, the bill will have its second reading within the next two weeks.
This is where the bill will have its general principles debated upon. A more detailed discussion will follow on the committee stage.
Committee Stage (House of Commons)
After a bill has passed its second reading, it is usually referred to as standing committee, whereby it goes through a very detailed clause by clause examination. In other cases, some bills are referred to as a committee of the whole house.
The bills which have their committee stage on the floor usually come under four categories:
. Bills of major constitutional importance
. Bills which the government needs to pass with unusual speed
. Bills which are of a very uncontroversial nature
. Private Members’ bills which are not opposed and of which all the stages are taken
without debate
Report Stage (House of Commons)
Two weeks after the standing committee (committee stage), have examined the bill, it then reports its decisions for consideration by the house as a whole. This gives members
who are not on the standing committee, an opportunity to propose further amendments or new clauses to the bill.
It is usually the way to follow the Report Stage immediately with the Third Reading.
Third Reading (House of Commons)
At this stage, a bill is reviewed in its final form, which would include all amendments, which were made at any other earlier stages. At this stage, other amendments cannot be made. The third reading is usually quite short.
After the third reading has been passed in the one house, it is then sent to the other house.
Passage through the other House
When a bill has been passed onto the other house, it has to go through all of the stages again. The bills that go through the second house can be further amended. However for the amendments to take place, the first house has to agree, or a compromise met, before the bill can go ahead to the next stage.
If the bill is not agreed on by both of the houses, the bill could be lost.
Royal Assent
When a bill has completed all of the stages that have been mentioned, it then receives Royal Assent from the Queen.
After the bill has been passed, and becomes part of the law of the land it’s then known as an Act of Parliament.
All of the above stages are referred to for the House of Commons. Some of the stages do slightly differ for the House of Lords.
