Questions and statements: At 14:30, Defence Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include service personnel accommodation, military aid to Ukraine, threats to undersea infrastructure, sexual harassment and abuse in the armed forces, recruitment, and defence relations with Europe.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. The closure of Heathrow Airport last Friday, due to a fire that disrupted the electricity supply, is a likely candidate for a Ministerial Statement.

Main business: Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Second Reading). The Government’s flagship legislation to speed up infrastructure and housing delivery will be debated by MPs for the first time on Monday. The Bill makes a number of changes to the infrastructure and planning process, including:

• Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs): Requiring National Policy Statements – which provide the primary basis for making decisions about NSIPs – to be updated every five years, reducing pre-application consultation requirements, and making it easier for judicial reviews to be refused permission to appeal.

• Energy infrastructure: Granting Ministers powers to make regulations to reform the grid connection process, introducing a ‘cap and floor’ scheme for long duration energy storage, and allowing renewable energy to be developed on Forestry Commission land.

• Transport infrastructure: Amending existing legislation to streamline the approval process for the development and maintenance of highways, railways, and electric vehicle public charge points.

• Nature recovery: Establishing a Nature Restoration Fund, funded by developers through a nature restoration levy, to allow developers to meet environmental obligations by following the steps in an Environmental Delivery Plan brought forward by Natural England, rather than by carrying out their own assessments and project-specific interventions.

• Local government planning process: Establishing a national scheme of delegation setting out which planning functions should be delegated to planning officers and which should be delegated to planning committees or subcommittees; granting Ministers a power to limit the size of local council planning committees; and requiring planning committee members to undertake mandatory training.

• Compulsory purchase: Allowing notices to be delivered electronically, simpler newspaper notices, more delegation of decisions, and other measures to simplify the process; and extending an existing power to disregard increased property values attributable to the prospect of planning permissions, by direction, to town/parish and community councils, where compulsory purchase is used to facilitate affordable or social housing.

• Development corporations: Enabling greater flexibility in the geographic areas over which corporations can operate; standardising the categories of infrastructure that development corporations can provide, including adding heat networks to the list and removing certain restrictions on the provision of public transport infrastructure; and imposing a duty on transport authorities to co-operate with development corporations.

• Strategic planning: Requiring combined authorities (CAs) and combined county authorities (CCAs) to produce a spatial development strategy (SDS) or, where CAs and CCAs do not exist, applying the duty to county councils or unitary authorities; and granting Ministers a power to direct groupings of county councils, unitary councils and combined authorities to deliver an SDS.

In a recent episode of the Hansard Society’s Parliament Matters podcast, a leading planning and infrastructure lawyer, Robbie Owen of law firm Pinsent Masons, expressed concern that the Bill may fall short of achieving the Government’s objectives and suggested that additional legislation may be required.

Three Liberal Democrat MPs have tabled a reasoned amendment urging the House to decline to give the Bill a Second Reading, arguing, among other concerns, that it “maintains the overly centralised, developer-led approach championed by the previous Government” and “undermines the independence of local government”. The amendment has not been signed by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, reducing the prospect that it will be selected for debate.

The Programme Motion timetabling future proceedings on the Bill, assuming it is given a Second Reading, proposes that the Public Bill Committee appointed to undertake the next stage, clause-by-clause scrutiny, should complete its work by 22 May at the latest.

• House of Commons Library briefing / POSTnote (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

Select Committee nominations: Three motions on the Order Paper propose adjustments to Select Committee memberships.

Presentation of Public Petition: Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central and West, will present a petition to mark Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup win, their first domestic trophy in 70 years. She recently indicated that she was collecting signatures for a petition urging the Government to congratulate Newcastle United football club on its victory, and to establish a national award to recognise major group sporting achievements as most awards currently recognise an individual’s sporting contribution rather than reward team effort.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Jake Richards has the adjournment debate on male suicide in Rotherham.

• House of Commons Library briefing / POSTnote

Westminster Hall: MPs will debate e-petition 700005, which calls on the Government to apply for the UK to join the European Union as a full member. The petition has acquired just over 133,000 signatures.

• House of Commons Library debate pack

Legislative committees:

• Delegated Legislation Committees meeting today: A motion under the Industrial Development Act 1992 authorising grants of between £30 million and £129 million to BioNTech UK to support their planned expansion of research and AI activities in the UK (as discussed in a previous Bulletin); the Church Funds Investment Measure and the Chancel Repair (Church Commissioners’ Liability) Measure; and the draft Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on disadvantages faced by closed-ended investment companies relative to investors in open-ended funds; the impact of plans to decarbonise the grid by 2030 on energy security; high-rise building safety and remediation; and sentences of imprisonment for public prosecution (IPP).

Main business:

Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill (Committee and Remaining Stages). This Bill is required to end the ban on Roman Catholics being appointed Lord High Commissioner – the King’s representative – to the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, enabling the intended appointee, Lady Elish Angiolini, a Catholic, to be appointed to the post. No amendments have yet been tabled; if this remains the case then Committee Stage may be discharged and the Bill will proceed to Third Reading.

Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill (Third Reading). This Bill grants the Government the power to prescribe a lower multiplier – used to calculate business rates – for retail and hospitality properties, which would be less than the standard multiplier, and to prescribe a higher multiplier for other business properties worth more than £500,000. The Bill had also proposed removing charitable business rates relief from private schools, but this provision was removed by Peers at Report Stage, in a defeat for the Government. Assuming the Bill is given a Third Reading, it will be sent to the House of Commons, which will consider the amendments made by the Lords on Tuesday (see below).

• House of Commons Library briefing

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill (Lords Consideration of Commons Amendments (LCCA)): The stages required to reconcile the amended text of the Bill between the two Houses are commonly known as ‘ping-pong’. The Government suffered a number of defeats on this Bill during its proceedings in the Lords after it had completed its passage in the Commons (these amendments were outlined in last week’s Bulletin).

On Wednesday last week, MPs voted to disagree with every non-Government amendment that the House of Lords made to the Bill. When Lords amendments are disagreed to without an alternative being proposed, the Commons sends a message to the Lords to communicate its reasons for disagreement. Today, the Lords will consider that message and how to respond to the Commons’ disagreements. The Lords has three options:

• not insist on its amendment, in which case agreement between the two Houses is reached;

• not insist on its amendment but propose an alternative amendment in lieu; or

• insist on its amendment, providing reasons to the Commons for doing so.

Local Authorities (Changes to Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025: This Order would postpone by one year the May 2025 local elections in nine specified local authorities. All of the affected authorities are in areas set to be reorganised under the Government’s local government and devolution proposals, merging councils into larger single-tier unitary authorities. As a result, while the elections are technically only postponed, they are unlikely to take place at all, since the existing county councils are expected to be dissolved.

The Order is subject to the negative procedure, meaning it will automatically come into force unless either House passes a motion to annul it (known as a ‘prayer’ motion). Three motions have been scheduled together for debate: two of them would have the effect of annulling the Order; one is a ‘regret’ motion which expresses concerns about the Order, but if passed would not be fatal to it. Each of the motions expresses concern about damage to democratic accountability, and a lack of consultation.

• Prayer motion tabled by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party)

• Prayer motion tabled by Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat)

• Regret motion tabled by Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Conservative)

Grand Committee: Armed Forces Commissioner Bill (Day 2). This Bill would establish a new Armed Forces Commissioner and abolish the existing office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman. The Government Whips are aiming for the Committee’s work on this Bill to conclude in three days. On the first day, the Committee dispensed with five out of the 12 groups of amendments proposed to the Bill, in line with the Whips’ target.

The Government says its proposal is inspired by the German Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. The Hansard Society looked at how the roles compare in an episode of our Parliament Matters podcast earlier this year.

• House of Lords Library briefing

• For the latest amendment papers see the relevant section on the Bill’s publications page

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Environmental Audit Committee (16:30): The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed MP, will give evidence on the environmental protection policies of his Department.

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

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Questions and statements: At 11:30, Health and Social Care Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include community hospitals, access to NHS dentistry, women’s health services, Professor Alice Sullivan’s independent review of sex and gender, cancer care, nursing career progression, and NHS waiting lists.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: The Labour MP Luke Murphy will introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Regulators (Growth Objective) Bill. The Bill would provide for the inclusion of economic growth as an objective for certain statutory regulators. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Main business: The House will consider Lords amendments made to either three or four items of legislation.

The House will first consider amendments (if any arise) to an unspecified item of legislation. This is likely to be the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill. As outlined in Monday’s section above, the House of Commons rejected all non-Government amendments made by the House of Lords last week, and Peers will now need to decide how to respond. If the Lords disagrees with the Commons – either by insisting on any of their amendments, or by proposing further alternative amendments in lieu – it will send a message to the Commons, outlining its reasons for doing so. MPs will then need to respond to the Lords’ insistence on, and/or disagreements with, the amendments. The options available to the Commons are:

• agree to the Lords amendment (or the Lords amendment in lieu), in which case agreement between the two Houses is reached;

• insist on its disagreement with the Lords amendment (or disagree with the Lords amendment in lieu); or

• propose an alternative amendment in lieu.

The Lords tends to propose amendments in lieu, rather than insist on its amendments. However, if Peers choose to insist on any amendment, the Government is most likely to respond by proposing its own amendments in lieu, to avoid a situation known as ‘double insistence’ from arising. Convention holds that if the Lords say something must be done, and the Commons refuse to do it and offer no compromise, and then the Lords insist on their original change and the Commons insist on their original rejection, the whole Bill is dead. There is therefore always a strong incentive to avoid ‘double insistence’ in order not to lose the Bill.

Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill (Commons Consideration of Lords Amendments (CCLA)). This Bill will have its Third Reading in the Lords on Monday (for further information see above). During Report Stage, the Government suffered defeats on six groups of amendments, which it is likely to seek to reverse, either by disagreeing with the amendments or by proposing amendments in lieu.

• Private schools: Removing clause 5 from the Bill, the clause that would remove private schools’ entitlement to charitable relief from business rates. (Amendment 30)

• Healthcare providers: Exempting hospitals, medical and dental schools, and any other healthcare setting specified in regulations from the higher multiplier, thereby retaining the standard multiplier. (Amendments 1, 9, 10, and 17)

• Anchor stores: Exempting key major shops from the higher multiplier, thereby retaining the standard multiplier. (Amendments 3, 8, 12, and 16)

• Manufacturing industry: Adding manufacturing to the types of business that can qualify for the lower multiplier, which is currently limited to retail and hospitality businesses. (Amendments 4, 6, 13, and 14)

• Threshold effects: Requiring the Government to review how the provisions of the Act may affect businesses with a rateable value close to the £500,000 threshold. (Amendments 24 and 34)

• Warehouses: Requiring the Government to instigate a review on the merits of a separate multiplier for retail services provided by warehouses without a material presence on the high street. (Amendment 32)

Great British Energy Bill (Commons Consideration of Lords Amendments (CCLA). The Government suffered only one defeat during the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords – on amendment 2, which seeks to prevent Great British Energy from receiving funding where there is credible evidence of deforestation or human rights abuses in its supply chain. The Government is likely to disagree with this amendment.

The amendment paper shows that Sarah Champion MP, Chair of the International Development Committee, is proposing a compromise, to amend the Lords amendment. Her amendment would require the Government to establish a cross-ministerial taskforce to investigate state-imposed forced labour in Great British Energy’s supply chain – potentially leading to a withdrawal of financial support. However, Commons procedures make it difficult for backbench MPs to secure a division during the ‘ping-pong’ stage of legislative scrutiny.

Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill (Commons Consideration of Lords Amendments (CCLA)). Only Government amendments were made during the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, so it is expected that these will be accepted by the Commons. Both Houses will thus have reached agreement and the Bill will be sent for Royal Assent.

Motion to approve the draft National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025: This Statutory Instrument increases the main hourly rate of the National Living Wage from £11.44 to £12.21, as well as increasing the rates for workers aged between 18 and 21, aged between 16 and 18, and apprentices. The increases are in line with the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. Standing Orders limit debates on Statutory Instruments such as this one to only 90 minutes.

Adjournment: The Liberal Democrat MP Rachel Gilmour has the adjournment debate on veterinary products in waterways.

Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on:

• accountability of the construction industry (House of Commons Library briefing);

• horticulture trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland (House of Commons Library briefing);

• the Nutrition for Growth Paris Summit 2025 (House of Commons Library briefing);

• financial support for parents caring for seriously ill children; and

• construction standards for new build homes (House of Commons Library briefing).

Legislative committees:

• The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will continue to be scrutinised by its Public Bill Committee. It is expected that the Committee will conclude its work this week. Around 20 groups of amendments remain to be considered. The Committee dispensed with 15 groups per day last week, so it is possible that the Committee could conclude its scrutiny today. The later clauses of the Bill are also less controversial and raise fewer issues of principle than the earlier clauses, so may generate less extended debate. However, Kim Leadbeater has tabled a number of potentially controversial amendments.

  • A series of amendments would grant the Secretary of State the power to make regulations around the provision of assisted dying through the National Health Service. The amendments clarify that assisted dying provided through the NHS must be provided free of charge. The amendments also provide that assisted dying services may be included within the definition of ‘health service’ under the National Health Service Act 2006 (which amended the founding NHS legislation passed in 1946).

  • An amendment would extend the period by which the whole Act must be brought into force from two years to four years.

• Delegated Legislation Committee meeting today: The draft Town and Country Planning (Fees and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on arms exports to Israel; the international prevalence of female genital mutilation; the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to not include defence industry among priority sectors in the Statement of Strategic Priorities to the National Wealth Fund, published on 19 March.

Main business: House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill (Day 4). This Bill will remove the remaining 90 hereditary Peers from the House of Lords. Government Whips had originally planned for Committee Stage to be completed in four days, but progress has been slower than anticipated. On the third day, the Committee considered nine groups of amendments – falling short of the Whips’ target of 12 groups. As a result, 19 groups of amendments still remain for consideration on the fourth day. If the House is unable to get through them all, an extra day may be required.

The groups of amendments scheduled for debate would make changes in the following areas:

• Composition of the House of Lords: Amendments imposing requirements on the Government to review the impact of the Act on the composition of, and future appointments to, the House of Lords.

• Life peerages for senior public figures: Amendments requiring that specified senior members of the judiciary and civil service, such as the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court, the Lord Chief Justice, Cabinet Secretary, Met Police Commissioner, intelligence service heads, and Director General of the BBC, are given life peerages.

• Representation of women: An amendment requiring all new appointments to the House of Lords to be women until there are an equal number of men and women in the House.

• Ministers in the House of Lords: Amendments allowing Ministers to be appointed to the Lords on a temporary basis and prohibiting Peers from serving as Ministers.

• Further reform: Amendments requiring Ministers, soon after Royal Assent, to publish a timetable for further reform of the House of Lords, or to publish a draft bill containing legislative proposals for further reform.

• House of Lords Library briefing

Grand Committee: Peers will debate three draft Statutory Instruments:

• the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2025;

• the Electronic Communications (Networks and Services) (Designated Vendor Directions) (Penalties) Order 2025;

• the Town and Country Planning (Fees and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025.

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Home Affairs Committee (9:30): The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Eleanor Lyons, and the former President of the Family Division of the High Court, Baroness Butler-Sloss, will give evidence on the ten year review of the Modern Slavery Act.

• Treasury Committee (10:00): The Chief Executive and the Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will give evidence on the FCA’s work.

• Defence Committee (10:30): The Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard MP, will give evidence on defence in the ‘grey zone’. This term refers to coercive activities that fall below perceived thresholds for military action, such as cyber attacks and information campaigns.

• International Development Committee (14:15): The former Conservative Deputy Foreign Secretary and Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell MP, will give evidence on the Foreign Office’s approach to value for money, particularly with reference to the overseas aid budget.

• Scottish Affairs Committee (14:30): The Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray MP, and junior Minister at the Scotland Office, Kirsty McNeill MP, will give evidence on the work of the Scotland Office.

House of Lords

• Industry and Regulators Committee (10:30): The Minister for Energy, Michael Shanks MP, will give evidence on the energy grid and grid connections.

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, Science, Innovation and Technology Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include technology-enabled violence against women and girls, research for motor neurone disease, the UK space industry, mobile coverage, online safety, digital inclusion and broadband connectivity.

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.

Spring Statement: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, will make a Statement – the “Spring Forecast” – in response to the publication of new forecasts for the economy and public finances by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). If the OBR forecasts that there will be a current budget deficit in 2029-30 this will be a breach of the Chancellor’s fiscal rules just two months after the revised Charter for Budget Responsibility enshrining those rules was approved by MPs – rules which the Chancellor and Prime Minister have both said are non-negotiable.

In Autumn 2016, then-Chancellor Philip Hammond MP announced a shift to a simpler fiscal timetable: just one major annual fiscal event (any statement by the Chancellor which includes tax and spending decisions) – the Autumn Budget. Each Spring, instead of a second fiscal event, the Chancellor would deliver a Spring Statement responding to the OBR’s latest forecasts. This Spring Statement was meant to be a modest update on the economic outlook, with no significant tax or spending decisions unless absolutely necessary due to the economic circumstances.

The timetable brought the UK in line with international best practice – most major economies operate with a single annual fiscal event. But that model proved hard to maintain in the face of Brexit, the pandemic, global energy crises, and the war in Ukraine. As a result, the two-fiscal-event model crept back in. The last Spring Statement was delivered in March 2022. In her October 2024 Budget, Rachel Reeves recommitted to a single annual Budget, supplemented by a Spring Forecast. However, this creates a political and economic dilemma. If, as expected, the OBR’s Spring Forecast suggests that the Government’s fiscal rules will be breached, then any serious response – whether new taxes, spending cuts, or rule changes – would effectively turn the Spring Statement into a second Budget, breaching the Government’s own timetable.

If previous practice for a Spring Statement is adhered to, the Shadow Chancellor, Mel Stride MP, will respond to the Chancellor’s announcements on behalf of the Official Opposition (unlike the Budget, where the Leader of the Opposition responds). MPs will then be able to ask questions in response to the Statement in the normal way. Unlike the Budget, there will be no speeches, and no dedicated days of debate will be scheduled in the week that follows. What further parliamentary and legislative response may be required will depend on what is announced.

• House of Commons Library briefing

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Labour MP Anna Gelderd will introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Cornish Language and Heritage (Education and Recognition) Bill. The Bill would make provision about the teaching and promotion of the Cornish language in educational institutions, and about the recognition of the Cornish language and Cornish heritage.

Main business: Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Remaining Stages). This Bill will ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born in or after 2009; provide powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vapes and nicotine products; grant the Government powers to designate additional categories of premises as smoke-free; extend smoke-free restrictions to vaping; prohibit the sale of oral tobacco products such as snus; provide new powers to impose requirements for tobacco and nicotine products in relation to substances, flavours, and packaging; extend the ban on under-18s purchasing nicotine vapes to cover non-nicotine vapes; prohibit the sale of vaping and nicotine products from vending machines; and prohibit advertising and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products.

Last year, the Hansard Society drew attention to powers to impose restrictions on tobacco products and their packaging in the earlier iteration of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill introduced by the previous Government. We noted then that an incomplete policy-making processes was used by Ministers to seek ‘holding’ powers in a Bill, only for that precedent to then be used to justify further, broader powers in subsequent Bills. This ‘creeping’ effect in the legislative process undermines parliamentary scrutiny of ministerial action. The powers about which we were concerned remain in this version of the Bill.

Of the 103 amendments and new clauses tabled for the Bill, 36 come from the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting. These Government amendments are primarily aimed at updating the Bill to reflect digital age verification methods, and at extending existing powers on the display of products and prices to include “tobacco related devices” such as pipes and heated tobacco devices.

A backbench amendment from Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage – proposing a ban on the supply of plastic-containing cigarette filters – has so far drawn the broadest cross-party support, attracting the highest number of signatures from MPs across all three main parties.

Conservative amendments, the ones most likely to be selected for a vote by the Speaker, would:

• require the Government to consult on draft regulations to introduce a licensing scheme for retail sale of tobacco and other products, including by inviting the Business and Trade Select Committee to scrutinise the draft regulations;

• require the Government to produce annual reports on the scale of illegal sale and availability of tobacco and vaping products;

• require online vaping product businesses to operate an age verification policy;

• allow vapes to be promoted as a quit-aid or public health measure; and

• restrict the Government’s power to designate new smoke-free areas, so that only areas outside hospitals, children’s playgrounds, nurseries, schools or higher education premises may be designated.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Frank McNally has the adjournment debate on the resettlement of Ukrainians in Coatbridge.

Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on:

• the impact of quota negotiations on the UK fishing fleet in 2025;

• Government support for grassroots rugby league (House of Commons Library briefing on UK sports funding);

• local government finances in London;

• fly-tipping in Tatton (House of Commons Library briefing); and

• UK–China relations (House of Commons Library briefing / POSTnote (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology).

Legislative committees:

• MPs will debate the Local Authorities (Changes to Years of Ordinary Elections) (England) Order 2025 in a Delegated Legislation Committee (DLC). (Peers are debating this on Monday – see House of Lords main business above.) This instrument is subject to the negative scrutiny procedure, meaning it does not require, and would not normally have, a debate. However, the instrument was committed to a DLC after a motion to annul the SI (a ‘prayer’ motion) was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch.

• One other Delegated Legislation Committee meets today: to consider the draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2025.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on discussions with the United States on Ukraine; future defence capability; and energy prices. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 24 March.

Main business: Football Governance Bill (Third Reading). Peers will be asked to approve the Government’s legislation establishing a new Independent Football Regulator. The Bill faced significant opposition at Committee Stage and there were a number of close divisions on amendments at Report Stage, but the Bill has made it to Third Reading without any Government defeats, though a number of Government amendments have been made. If Third Reading is agreed, the Bill will be sent to the House of Commons.

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill (Report Stage). This Bill proposes to simplify the process for local transport authorities (LTAs) who wish to pursue bus franchising; enable LTAs to establish new local authority bus companies; devolve grant making powers to LTAs; place a duty on LTAs to consider the provision of socially necessary local services; restrict the use of new non-zero emission buses from 2030; award greater powers to LTAs to make byelaws to tackle anti-social behaviour; and mandate training for bus drivers on tackling anti-social behaviour.

The Government has tabled 30 amendments of its own, with a further 32 amendments tabled by members of other parties. The non-Government amendments include over a dozen amendments from the Conservative Peer Lord Moylan, many of which seek to restrict or add conditions to the use of the franchising process by LTAs.

Grand Committee: It is expected that the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill will continue its Committee Stage. Information about this Bill was set out in an earlier Bulletin.

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Health and Social Care Committee (9:30): Senior figures from the health sector, including the Patient Safety Commissioner, the Chief Executive at the NHS Confederation, and trade union representatives, will give evidence on the work of NHS England.

• Business and Trade Committee (16:00): The Minister for Industry, Sarah Jones MP, and Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Maria Eagle MP, will give evidence on industrial strategy.

House of Lords

• Constitution Committee (10:30): Dr Jan van Zyl Smit, Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, Professor Adam Tomkins of Glasgow University (and a former member of the Scottish Parliament), and Professor Jeff King of University College London will give evidence to the Committee’s new inquiry into the rule of law.

• International Relations and Defence Committee (10:30): The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister and other representatives of Ukrainian organisations will give evidence on the situation in Ukraine.

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

Questions and statements: At 9:30, Transport Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics on the Order Paper include economic growth, the aviation sector, active travel, local bus services, performance of passenger rail services, and rail accessibility.

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.

Backbench business: There will be two debates, nominated by the Backbench Business Committee.

• St Patrick’s Day and Northern Irish affairs – led by Labour MP Adam Jogee, a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee. In his application to the Backbench Business Committee he explained that it would “allow Members to promote the strong relationships between Ireland and the United Kingdom, allow colleagues to unpick a number of issues affecting the British–Irish relationship, celebrate the close bonds between Britain and Ireland and all their peoples and raise issues affecting the Irish community in Britain.” (House of Commons Library briefing)

• The tenth anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 – led by Conservative MP Dame Karen Bradley, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and Co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. The UK was the first country to legislate against modern slavery. In her application to the Backbench Business Committee, Dame Karen noted that “50 million people globally are estimated to be victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, with over 100,000 in the UK.”

Adjournment: The Labour MP Alex Mayer has the adjournment debate on the potential merits of double British Summer Time.

Westminster Hall: There are two debates today, on:

• the prevention of drug deaths; and

• the first anniversary of the Hughes report on valproate and pelvic mesh.

Legislative committees:

• Public Bill Committee meeting today: Crime and Policing Bill.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on foreign ownership of UK newspapers and magazine; refugee resettlement; and the reduction in overseas aid. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 25 March.

Main business: Employment Rights Bill (Second Reading). This Bill, which has already been scrutinised by MPs, would introduce new rights to guaranteed hours and restrictions on zero hours contracts; introduce new rights to flexible working and bereavement leave; make changes to statutory sick pay; impose new duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work; introduce day-one rights to paternity and parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal; and remove various requirements on trade unions in conducting industrial action, including by repealing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

No amendments can be tabled at this stage, with the debate focusing instead on the general principles and purposes of the Bill. By convention, the House of Lords does not refuse Second Reading for bills which implement a manifesto commitment made by the governing party and the House generally agrees to Second Readings without a division.

• House of Lords Library briefing

Grand Committee: Holocaust Memorial Bill (Day 4). This Bill, which is needed to allow the construction of a new Holocaust memorial and education centre in Victoria Tower Gardens next to Parliament, has continued to make slower progress through Committee Stage than the Government anticipated. Although the Government Whips had originally planned for a two-day Committee Stage, progress was slower than expected: only four of the 11 groups of amendments were debated over the first two days. A further four groups were considered on day three, leaving just three groups remaining. With that, the Committee now looks set to conclude its proceedings today.

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Public Accounts Committee (10:00): Lord O’Neill of Gatley, the author of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer and Acting Permanent Secretary at the Department for Health and Social Care, and other experts and officials will give evidence on addressing the risks from antimicrobial resistance.

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 is the seventh of 13 Fridays this Session where backbench legislation is given precedence over other business. Importantly, it is the last such Friday where Second Readings take priority. For the remaining six Fridays, later stages of PMBs – such as Report and Third Reading – will take precedence, giving priority to the bills that have made the most legislative progress. Typically, the first couple of those last six Fridays are usually taken up by Report Stages for any bills that have emerged from Committee. However, so far, no PMB has made it out of Committee Stage. This is because only one PMB can be in Committee at a time, and the first to enter Committee was the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which is yet to emerge.

The Hansard Society’s guide to Private Members’ Bills explains in more detail the various types of PMB and how the legislative process for PMBs differs from that for Government bills.

A large number of Private Members’ Bills have been scheduled for Second Reading today by their sponsoring MP, but only the first bill on the list is guaranteed time for debate. If discussion on that bill concludes before 14:30, MPs may have the opportunity to debate the second and any subsequent bills in the remaining time. However, after 14:30, only unopposed bills can proceed. This means a bill doesn’t need to be debated to pass its Second Reading – it can still go through as long as no MP present objects, including any Whips objecting on behalf of their party.

The first two bills on the list – the ones likely to be debated – are both ballot bills presented by MPs who were successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot at the start of the Session.

• Water Bill (Clive Lewis MP, Labour): This Bill, which has not yet been published, would set targets and objectives relating to the water sector, including in relation to the ownership of companies and climate adaptation and mitigation, and would establish a Citizens’ Assembly on water ownership.

• Looked After Children (Distance Placements) Bill (Jake Richards MP, Labour): This Bill, which is similarly yet to be published, would require local authorities to publish information about looked after children in distance placements and to develop and publish plans outlining how they will ensure there is sufficient accommodation for children in their area. The MP’s objective is to ensure that children in care are not placed a long distance from their homes and local communities.

Adjournment: The Conservative MP Jack Rankin has the adjournment debate on the potential merits of issuing guidance on the Down Syndrome Act 2022 to local authorities.

Main business: Peers will spend the day debating two select committee reports:

• Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system, a report from the Food, Diet and Obesity Committee

• The Modern Slavery Act 2015: becoming world-leading again, a report from the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee.

Both select committees were established in the 2023-24 Session as special inquiry committees. These are ad hoc committees set up for the purpose of conducting a single focused inquiry, after which they report their findings to the House. The House of Lords appoints four such committees each Session.

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