§ Petitions for Private Bills
§ 2. No private bill shall be presented to the House unless a petition for the same, signed by the parties, being promoters of the bill, or some of them, has been previously presented to the House with a printed copy of the proposed bill annexed.
§ Deposit of re-housing statement
§ 47.—(1) In the case of a Bill whereby it is proposed—
- (a) to authorise the acquisition compulsorily or by agreement of any specified land on which houses are standing; or
- (b) to revive, or to extend the time limited for the exercise of, any power for such acquisition;
- (i) the name of that area;
- (ii) the total number of those houses in that area: and
- (iii) the total number (so far as can be ascertained) of persons residing in them;
§ Provided that, in the case of a Bill whereby it is proposed to revive, or to extend the time limited for the exercise of, any such powers as aforesaid originally conferred by an Act passed not more than four years before the date of the deposit of the Petition for the Bill, then, if a statement in pursuance of this Order, or of any former Standing Order corresponding thereto, was deposited in respect of the Bill for that Act, the houses included in that statement shall be excluded in determining whether a statement is required under this Order to be deposited in respect of the Bill in question.
§ (2) The areas to which this Order applies are London and boroughs, urban districts and rural parishes in England and Wales and outside London.
§ (3) In this Order the expression "house" means any house or part of a house occupied as a separate dwelling.
§ Withdrawal of Memorials
§ 75A. Any Memorialist may withdraw his Memorial, on a requisition to that effect being deposited in the Private Bill Office, signed by him or by the Agent who deposited the Memorial; and where any such Memorial is signed by more than one person, any person signing the Memorial may withdraw from the Memorial by a similar requisition, signed and deposited as aforesaid.
§ Power of Chairman of Ways and Means to select Chairman of Committees on Unopposed Bills
§ 88A. The Chairman of Ways and Means shall have power to select from the panel appointed under paragraph (2) of Standing Order 111 one Member to act as Chairman at every sitting of a Committee on an Unopposed Bill at which neither the Chairman of Ways and Means nor the Deputy Chairman is present, and at any such sitting the Member so selected shall be a Member of the Committee in addition to the three Members selected under paragraph (2) of Standing Order 111.
§ Minutes of Evidence
§ 131 A. Whenever copies of the Minutes of the evidence taken before a Committee on an Opposed Private Bill are required they shall be printed at the expense of the parties unless the Committee consider such printing unnecessary.
§ Committees on Unopposed Bills
§ 132.—(1) The Chairman of Ways and Means shall, when present, be ex officio Chairman of every Committee on an Unopposed Private Bill.
§ (2) Every such Committee shall have the assistance of the Counsel to Mr. Speaker.
§ Chairman to report Bill to House in all cases
§ 143. The Chairman of the Committee shall 'report the Bill to the House, whether the Committee have or have not gone through the Bill.
1152§ Presentation of Petitions for Private Bills
§ 162A.—(1) Every Petition for a Private Bill shall be presented to the House by being deposited in the Private Bill Office.
§ (2) Except as provided in Standing Order 220 (Regulations as to London County Council (Money) Bills) no such Petition not being a Petition for a Certified Bill shall be received after the twenty-seventh day of November unless it has been endorsed by the Chairman of Ways and Means.
§ Presentation of Private Bills
§ 163.—(1) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has reported that the Standing Orders have been complied with the bill shall be presented to the House not earlier than the day before, nor later than the day after the first sitting day in February or, if the report from the Examiner is laid on the Table of the House on or after the first sitting day in February, not later than the day after the report was so laid.
§ (2) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has reported that the standing orders have not been complied with, and the House, on consideration of a report from the Standing Orders Committee that the standing orders ought to be dispensed with, gives leave to the parties to proceed with the bill, the bill shall be presented to the House not later than the following day, or, if such leave was given before the first sitting day in February, not earlier than the day before, nor later than the day after the first sitting day.
§ (3) Where, in respect of a petition for a private bill, the Examiner has made a special report then—
- (a) if the Standing Orders Committee determine that the standing orders have not been complied with and the House, upon consideration of a report from that committee that the standing orders ought to be dispensed with, gives leave to the parties to proceed with the bill, the bill shall be presented to the House within the time limited by paragraph (2) of this Order;
- (b) if the Standing Orders Committee report that the standing orders have been complied with, the bill shall be presented to the House not later than the following day or, if the report was made before the first sitting day in February, not earlier than the day before nor later than the day after the first sitting day.
§ (4) A private bill shall be presented to the House by being deposited in the Private Bill Office and shall be laid by one of the Clerks of that Office on the Table of the House on the next sitting day.
§ (5) In this Order the expression "sitting day" means a day on which the House sits
§ Petitions for additional provision
§ 167A.—(1) A Petition for additional provision in a Private Bill shall have annexed thereto a printed copy of the provisions proposed to be added.
§ (2) No such Petition shall be received unless it has been endorsed by the Chairman of Ways and Means
1153§ (3) No such Petition shall be received in the case of a Bill brought from the House of Lords.
§ Certain matters to be expressed in titles of Private Bills
§ 167B. In the case of any Bill to which, in the event of its originating in this House, Standing Order 64 (Consents of Members of companies, etc., not being promoters, in case of certain Bills originating in this House) will apply, the name of any company, society, association or partnership not being promoters of the Bill, upon which powers are proposed to be conferred or whose constitution is proposed to be altered by the Bill shall be expressed in the title of the Bill.
§ Copies of Petitions
§ 172. A copy of any Petition deposited in the Private Bill Office praying to be heard against, or otherwise relating to, a Private Bill shall, on application and payment by any party interested, be supplied to him by the agent concerned for the Petition not later than the day following that on which the application and payment is received.
§ Opposed Business
§ 174.—(1) No opposed business shall be proceeded with at the time of private business.
§ (2) Any such business may, if the Chairman of Ways and Means so directs, be appointed for consideration at seven of the clock on any Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
§ (3) Business appointed for consideration at seven of the clock shall be arranged in such order as the Chairman of Ways and Means may determine.
§ Inspection of Petitions for Private Bills
§ 195. Every Petition for a Private Bill deposited in the Private Bill Office together with the printed copy of the proposed Bill annexed thereto, shall be open to the inspection of all parties.
§ Notice of adjournment of Committees
§ 199A. Notice, in writing, shall be given by the Clerk attending a Committee on a Private Bill to the Clerks in the Private Bill Office of the day and hour to which that Committee is adjourned.
§ Laying of plans, etc.
§ 239A. Whenever any plans, sections, books of reference or maps have been deposited with any public department in relation to any Special Procedure Order by which it is proposed to authorise the compulsory acquisition or user of land or the construction or alteration of works, duplicates of those documents shall be deposited in the Private Bill Office not later than the day following that on which the Order is laid before either House of Parliament.
§ The House will be aware that it has been the practice of my predecessors and myself at the end of most Sessions to move such Amendments to Private Business Standing Orders as the experience of 1154 the past Session or Sessions has shown to be necessary. These Amendments are always liable to be rather extensive, since the Private Business Orders, unlike the Public Business Orders, are intended to be a code in which much of the practice of the House is reduced to a written form.
§ During the past Session the Private Business Standing Orders have been given an extensive overhaul. Six years have now passed since the Standing Orders were completely revised after a very long interval, and post-war experience of Private Bill legislation has suggested that a considerable number of Amendments—mainly of a drafting nature—might well be made to improve and clarify them.
§ The result of this review is shown in the Amendments scheduled to the Motion. These Amendments have been discussed and agreed with the Society of Parliamentary Agents, Government Departments, and, where they affect the corresponding orders of another place, with the Lord Chairman of Committees. I have also had the advantage of valuable suggestions from a number of right hon. and hon. Members, to whom I am indebted.
§ The Amendments thus represent substantially agreed changes in the Standing Orders. They may not perhaps cover everything which some Members may feel might be included; but if any hon. Members wish to make suggestions or to draw my attention to any point on the proposed Amendments I should be happy to discuss them.
§ The House will perhaps permit me to conclude by mentioning that under my Chairmanship the whole of the Standing Orders of the House, relating to both Public and Private Business, have now been revised and made uniform and the Model Bill and Standard Clauses have been modernised and consolidated. This is not to say that further improvement is not possible, far from it, indeed the process is continuous, but I hope the House may think that a useful and much needed piece of work has been done, and whilst it would be invidious to mention names, I should like to thank all concerned for their co-operation and help.
1155§ The Chairman of Ways and MeansIn view of the objection taken, I think my proper course would be to invite any hon. Members who have objections to be good enough to see me and meanwhile, with your approval, Mr. Speaker, I defer my Motion until tomorrow.
§ Colonel RopnerOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Surely the House is concerned with any amendment to Standing Orders. Therefore, may we have an assurance from either you or the Chairman of Ways and Means—I am not quite sure what the procedure would be—that before these Standing Orders are amended there will be a chance of discussion in the House?
§ The Chairman of Ways and MeansIt is competent for me to put the Motion down as an opposed Motion for debate at 7 o'Clock on some evening. I hope, in the circumstances, that that may not be necessary, but naturally I am in the hands of the House. For the moment, perhaps the Motion could he deferred until tomorrow.