The Bench Report

UK Parliament: How Bills Get Carried Over Between Sessions

• The Bench Report • Season 2 • Episode 14

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This episode explores bill carry-over in the UK Parliament, a procedure that allows public bills to continue their progress from one parliamentary session to the next instead of falling at the end of a session. Initially suggested by the Modernisation Committee in 1997 to reduce legislative workload fluctuations and improve scrutiny, carry-over aims to increase flexibility in the legislative process. Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have adopted procedures for this, though the specific rules and frequency of use differ between the two Houses.

Key Takeaways

  • Carry-over was first introduced on an experimental basis in the House of Commons in October 2002.
  • Permanent procedures for carry-over were established in the House of Commons with Standing Order No 80A on 26 October 2004.
  • Under Standing Order No 80A, proceedings on a carried-over bill usually lapse one year after its first reading, although motions can be agreed to extend this period. Extensions have been used for numerous bills.
  • Specific arrangements were made in December 2011 to allow bills brought in upon a Ways and Means resolution (like Finance Bills) to be carried over under Standing Order No 80B.
  • It is generally not possible for public bills (other than hybrid bills) to be carried over across a dissolution of Parliament.
  • Three carry-over motions agreed before the 2017 general election did not take effect because the bills fell upon dissolution.
  • On occasion, motions have allowed a two-year expiry period for carry-over instead of the standard one year, as seen with the Environment Bill 2019–21 and others.
  • The House of Lords also has a procedure for carry-over, agreed in July 2002, often linked to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Discussion: Carry-over is seen as increasing flexibility in the legislative process, but some argue it weakens the traditional sessional discipline on the government. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of allowing bills to span parliamentary sessions?

Source: Carry-over of Public Bills - Research Briefing

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No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.

Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello and welcome to The Bench Report. You're listening to Amy and Ivan.

SPEAKER_00:

Another episode today in our series on parliamentary procedure and process.

SPEAKER_01:

Today we're looking at something called carryover for public bills.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. It's basically a mechanism that stops a bill from having to start completely from scratch if it doesn't finish its passage through parliament before a session ends.

SPEAKER_01:

So it could just pick up where it left off in the next session?

SPEAKER_00:

Broadly, yes. It was brought in to help manage the legislative flow, prevent everything bunching up, and hopefully allow a bit more time for proper scrutiny.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Let's start with the House of Commons. Where did this idea first come from?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you have to go back to the 1997 Parliament. The Modernization Committee suggested it.

SPEAKER_01:

Modernization Committee, right.

SPEAKER_00:

Their thinking was that it could sort of even out the legislative activity across the session.

SPEAKER_01:

Make it less frantic towards the end.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. And by easing those timetable pressures, they hoped committees would get, well, a better chance to really dig into the details of the bills.

SPEAKER_01:

So it wasn't just about efficiency, but potentially better lawmaking, too.

SPEAKER_00:

That was certainly part of the rationale. The Commons first experimented with it back in October 2002. An

SPEAKER_01:

experiment?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, using a temporary standing order. It ran until the end of that parliament, the 2001 parliament it was. It allowed government bills that hadn't finished to resume in the next And

SPEAKER_01:

did that experiment stick? Did it become permanent?

SPEAKER_00:

It did. In October 2004, it was made permanent. That's standing order number ADA.

SPEAKER_01:

Standing order ADA. Got it.

SPEAKER_00:

And under that rule, generally speaking, a bill that's carried over gets one year from its original introduction to complete its passage.

SPEAKER_01:

One year. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Though it's worth noting that permanent rule didn't initially cover private members bills or bills starting in the Lords.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, okay. So it's mainly for government legislation at first.

SPEAKER_00:

Primarily, yes. And even before that permanent rule, there were a few sort of ad hoc carryovers, six bills in total, actually.

SPEAKER_01:

Like the financial services and markets bill? I think I remember that one.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a key example from 1998-99, done under a special one-off agreement before the standing orders were in place.

SPEAKER_01:

And once the permanent rule was established, did its use increase?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yes. We saw, for instance, nine bills carried over in 2005, then 11 in 2010. The numbers fluctuate, of course.

SPEAKER_01:

Makes sense. Is there anything that stops a bill being carried over?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the big one is a general election. You can't carry a bill over from one parliament to the next.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah, so dissolution ends everything.

SPEAKER_00:

Precisely. Any carryover motions made just before, say, the 2017 election simply had no effect because the parliament ended.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Now, you mentioned a one year time limit under the permanent standing order. Is that absolute?

SPEAKER_00:

Not entirely. Standing order ADA itself allows the House to agree to a motion extending that period.

SPEAKER_01:

So there's flexibility built in.

SPEAKER_00:

There is. It's been used, I think, for about 14 bills so far. A good example is the corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide bill back in 2006-07.

SPEAKER_01:

What happened there?

SPEAKER_00:

Its deadline got a short extension, just seven days, basically to allow a bit more time to consider Lorde's amendments.

SPEAKER_01:

And more recently?

SPEAKER_00:

The online safety bill that needed two extensions in the 2022-23 session.

SPEAKER_01:

Two extensions. Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

And there was also that slightly different approach for a few bills between 2019 and 2021. Oh, what was that? The Environment bill, the higher education bill on free speech, and the animal welfare bill on kept animals, they were all carried over but with a specific two-year expiry period set from the start. A bit unusual.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting. What about money bills, things like the budget, the finance bill? Are they handled differently?

SPEAKER_00:

They are now, yes. In 2011, they created a separate rule, Standing Order 80B.

SPEAKER_01:

80B, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

This specifically covers bills brought in under what are called ways and means resolutions. That's mostly finance bills.

SPEAKER_01:

And why the separate rule?

SPEAKER_00:

It mainly came about because Parliament shifted its working year, moving to sessions that run roughly from spring to spring. It made carryover more necessary for the annual finance bill cycle.

SPEAKER_01:

So the timing changed.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. The first one to use this ADB procedure was the Finance Not For bill in the 2010-12 session.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. That covers the Commons procedures pretty thoroughly. What about the House of Lords? Do they have a similar system?

SPEAKER_00:

They do, yes. They agreed their own carryover procedure back in July 2002 as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Around the same time as the Commons experiment started then.

SPEAKER_00:

Pretty much. It followed recommendations from their own procedure committee. Interestingly, the Lords explicitly linked carryover with the idea of pre-legislative scrutiny.

SPEAKER_01:

Are they summoning bills before they're formally introduced?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. The idea being that if bills were better scrutinized beforehand, carryover might be needed less, but where it was needed, it was available.

SPEAKER_01:

Has it been used much in the Lords?

SPEAKER_00:

Not as much as in the Commons. Since the 2003-04 session, only four public bills have actually been carried over there.

SPEAKER_01:

Only four? That's quite a difference.

SPEAKER_00:

It is. The first was the Constitutional Reform Bill 2003-04, which started in the Lords, marked HL.

SPEAKER_01:

And how does it work procedurally in the Lords? automatic?

SPEAKER_00:

No, it usually requires agreement through the the usual channels,

SPEAKER_01:

the behind the scenes discussions between the parties.

SPEAKER_00:

Essentially, yes. And then a formal motion has to be agreed by the House.

SPEAKER_01:

OK. And back in the Commons, you mentioned different types of motions were used over the years.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. There isn't just one single way it's always been done. You had those very specific ad hoc motions early

SPEAKER_01:

on, like for the financial services bill.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. That motion spelled out exactly which stages the bill would resume at in the next session. Very detailed.

SPEAKER_01:

Then came the temporary orders.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And motions under those were simpler. For the planning and compulsory purchase bill, for example, the motion basically just said proceedings would resume. Much more straightforward.

SPEAKER_01:

And under the permanent standing order, ADA?

SPEAKER_00:

Similar simple statements, usually. Like for the welfare reform bill, it just states the bill resumes.

SPEAKER_01:

And those special two-year ones?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. For things like the environment bill, the motion itself specifically mentioned that longer two-year completion period. So the type of motion reflects the specific rules being applied.

SPEAKER_01:

So wrapping this up then, carryover gives both houses, commons, and lords quite a bit more flexibility.

SPEAKER_00:

Definitely. It avoids that cliff edge at the end of a session where potentially valuable legislative work could just be lost. Allows more time for debate, for scrutiny.

SPEAKER_01:

But implemented slightly differently and used more often in the commons than the lords.

SPEAKER_00:

That sums it up well. It allows important work to continue across sessions, adapting parliamentary process to the demands of complex legislation.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for listening. Next time, we look at all party groups. We hope you can join us.

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