Questions and statements: At 14:30, Education Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include SEND provision, apprenticeships, free school meals for primary school pupils, and safeguarding for children. Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. Main business: General debate on creative industries. Adjournment: The Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti has the adjournment debate on A&E services in Solihull Borough. Westminster Hall: MPs will debate e-petition 657935, which calls on the Government to increase investment in speech and language therapy. The petition has acquired just over 13,000 signatures.

Introduction of new Peers: Two new Peers will be introduced to the House:

• former Labour MP Lyn Brown (now Baroness Brown of Silvertown); and

• former First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones (now Lord Jones of Pennybont).

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the sources of funding, basis, and equity of local government financial resources; the service provided by Avanti West Coast between Manchester and London; children’s rights; and the amount of energy used in internet activity, and in particular in mining cryptocurrencies. Main business: Mental Health Bill (Committee stage, day 4). This is the fourth of five days agreed between the Whips for the Bill’s Committee stage. The Mental Health Bill debate will be interrupted by a one-hour dinner break debate on the impacts in the nations and regions of the UK of the removal of the agricultural property relief for inheritance tax, the increases to employers’ National Insurance contributions, and the extension of VAT to private school fees. Grand Committee: Three groups of draft Statutory Instruments to be debated:

• Environmental Permitting (Electricity Generating Stations) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2024

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2025

• four Statutory Instruments providing for the establishment of new Combined Authorities throughout the UK:

  • Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority Regulations 2024

  • Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2024

  • Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority Regulations 2025

  • Lancashire Combined County Authority Regulations 2024.

Highlights include: House of Commons

• Foreign Affairs Committee (14:00): Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organisations will give evidence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• Public Accounts Committee (15:30): The Permanent Secretary and senior officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will give evidence on prison estate capacity. The evidence session follows a December 2024 report on published by the National Audit Office, which concluded that “[the] current crisis in the prison estate is a consequence of previous governments’ failure to align criminal justice policies with funding for the prison estate, leading to reactive solutions which represent poor value for money” and stated that years of under-investment in prison estate maintenance put the MoJ and the Prison and Probation Service in “a weak position to respond” to increases in demand for prison places.

• Environmental Audit Committee (16:30): Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband MP will be questioned about airport expansion, AI roll-out, and the outcomes of the COP29 summit. The Committee will explore whether, given speculation over airport expansion and plans to build over 1.5 million homes, net zero is enough of a priority in Government.

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Questions and statements: At 11:30, Justice Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics on the Order Paper include prison capacity, the court backlog, hyper-prolific offenders, and violence against women and girls. Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: The leader of the SNP parliamentary party, Stephen Flynn MP, will introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Women’s State Pension Age (Ombudsman Report and Compensation Scheme) Bill. It would require the Government to publish measures to address the findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in its report of the women’s state pension age and to publish proposals for a compensation scheme for those women who are affected. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills. Main business: Water (Special Measures) Bill (Remaining Stages) [Lords] This Bill was initially introduced in the House of Lords where Peers made two amendments to it (see this previous edition of the Bulletin). However, both of these amendments have since been removed during the Bill’s Committee Stage in the House of Commons. Because MPs have made amendments to the Lords’ version of the Bill, it will be sent back to the Lords for ‘consideration of Commons amendments’ (or ping-pong) if MPs give it a Third Reading today. Report Stage offers the chance for all MPs to propose amendments to the Bill. The Conservatives, whose amendments the Speaker is most likely to select, have tabled amendments to:

• require the Government to establish a ‘Water Restoration Fund’, into which any fines on water companies must be paid and out of which payments will be made for improving the ecological quality of waterways;

• place a limit on the amount of money that water companies may borrow, with companies exceeding those limits prevented from paying dividends to shareholders; and

• provide for any fines imposed on water companies to result in equivalent reductions in customers’ bills.

As of Friday (24 January), the Liberal Democrats had tabled 34 new clauses and amendments. Of these amendments, the one which has attracted the most signatures would allow up to 100% of debts to be cancelled should a water company enter into special administration. The debate is topical given widespread concerns about the future of Thames Water and speculation that it may have to be renationalised. Like the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats have also proposed an amendment to establish a Water Restoration Fund. The Government argued in Committee that such a fund is already being established and does not require legislation. Relevant papers:

• House of Commons Library briefing

• Amendment paper

Adjournment: The Labour MP Anneliese Midgley has the adjournment debate on pay discrimination against unionised workers in the housing sector. Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on road safety for young drivers; solar farms on agricultural land; the impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief; Government funding for the A133-A120 link road; and small and medium-sized enterprise participation in defence procurement.

Legislative committees:

• The Finance Bill, which gives statutory authority to the tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget, will begin its consideration by a Public Bill Committee (PBC) today. At Committee stage, Finance Bills are subject to ‘split committal’, whereby some parts of the Bill are sent to a Public Bill Committee – composed of up to around 40 members and which deliberates in a committee room – while the more contentious clauses are discussed in a ‘Committee of the Whole House’ in the Commons Chamber. That latter stage – to which 17 clauses were sent – took place on 10 December and 11 December 2024. The remaining 69 clauses of the Bill will therefore be considered in Public Bill Committee. See the Hansard Society’s guide to the Finance Bill for more detail.

• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: The first witnesses to give evidence to the Public Bill Committee for the assisted dying legislation are the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty and Duncan Burton respectively. Today is the first of three days of oral evidence this week, with the Committee sitting in both the morning and afternoon each day. The list of witnesses for each day is set out in the Hansard Society’s ‘rolling news’ webpage focused on the Bill. It is anticipated that at the start of business on Tuesday a motion will be moved by the Bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater MP, to amend the witness list and timetable to include the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We have launched a Parliament Matters mini-podcast series about the Bill and its progress through Parliament. In the first episode, published last week, we look at the first meeting of the Committee and how they decided when to sit, and which witnesses to call.

• Other Public Bill Committees meeting today: Tobacco and Vapes Bill; Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

• Delegated Legislation Committee (DLC): MPs will consider the draft Armed Forces (Court Martial) (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2024.

Introduction of new Peers: Two new Peers will be introduced to the House:

• political commentator and founder of the Free Speech Union, Toby Young (now Lord Young of Acton); and

• theologian and former Oxford academic, the Revd Canon Professor Nigel Biggar (now Lord Biggar).

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on support for young disabled people and their families, particularly in relation to provision of social care services, as they transition to adulthood; preventing community pharmacy closures; the status of retained EU law; and changes to the Government’s plans on abolishing non-domicile status. The question about the status of retained EU law (now properly known as ‘assimilated law’) may pick up on points made in the Government’s latest Assimilated Law Parliamentary Report published earlier this week. Section 17 of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (the REUL Act) requires the Government to publish updates bi-annually on the measures it has taken to revoke and reform assimilated law in the most recent six-month period, and to outline its plans for further reform. This week’s report covers the reporting period from 24 June 2024 to 23 December 2024. It reveals that in that six-month period a further 166 pieces of assimilated law were identified by Government departments, taking the total volume of assimilated law to 6,901. Only 25 pieces of assimilated law were repealed or replaced over the course of the six months, primarily by the Treasury and the Department for Transport, bringing the total repeals or replacements to 1,527. Main business: Data (Use and Access) Bill (Report, day 2). This is the final day of Report Stage, as agreed between the Whips. The House disposed of 37 amendments during the first day of Report stage, with the Government suffering three defeats in the process, and 46 amendments remain to be disposed of. Progress to date has been in line with the stated expectation of the Government Whips.

• House of Lords Library briefing

• Amendment paper

• More information in a previous edition of the Bulletin

Grand Committee: Bus Services (No. 2) Bill (Committee, day 1). After today’s proceedings a further two days in Committee have been scheduled for 11 and 13 February.

• House of Lords Library briefing

• Amendment paper

• More information in a previous edition of the Bulletin

Highlights include: House of Commons

• Education Committee (10:00): A variety of charities will give evidence on solving the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) crisis.

• Culture, Media and Sport Committee (10:00): The Minister for Creative Industries, Chris Bryant MP, and the British Film Institute will give evidence on British film and high-end television.

• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (10:00): The First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston, will give evidence on the work of the Civil Service Commission, which regulates civil service recruitment, including by chairing recruitment competitions, such as the recent appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary.

• Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (10:00): West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and local government experts will give evidence on English devolution. One of the experts, Dr Jack Newman, discussed how Metro Mayors should be held accountable – should it be driven from the top down by Parliament, or from the bottom up by local government – on the Hansard Society’s

  Parliament Matters podcast last year.

• Treasury Committee (10:00): The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds MP, will give evidence on the acceptance of cash. Reynolds was only recently appointed to her ministerial role, replacing Tulip Siddiq MP two weeks ago.

• Defence Committee (10:30): Research Fellows from Chatham House and the Royal United Service Institute will give evidence on the threats facing Europe and the key capability gaps at the start of the Committee’s new inquiry into the UK’s contribution to European scrutiny.

• Foreign Affairs Committee (14:00): Foreign policy experts will give evidence on the situation in Syria.

• Justice Committee (14:30): The Committee is holding a pre-appointment hearing with Anthony Rogers, the Government’s preferred candidate for the role of Chief Inspector of HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, after which the Committee will issue a non-binding recommendation to the Government.

House of Lords

• Economic Affairs Committee (15:15): Economists, including Roger Bootle of Capital Economics, will give their views on the sustainability of the UK’s national debt.

• European Affairs Committee (16:00): Legal experts will give evidence on the UK-EU reset.

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, Wales Office Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics on the Order Paper concern the proposed visitor levy, NHS reform in Wales, and economic growth in Wales.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Prime Minister’s Questions: At 12:00, Sir Keir Starmer will face the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, at PMQs.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: The Labour MP Marsha de Cordova will introduce a Ten Minute Rule Bill titled the Pavement Parking Bill. It would amend the law relating to parking on verges and footways in England and Wales, outside of Greater London. Pavement parking is currently illegal in Greater London.

Main business: Arbitration Bill (Second Reading) [Lords]. The Bill, which has already passed through the House of Lords, will implement the recommendations of the Law Commission to reform the 1996 Arbitration Act. A similar bill was introduced to Parliament in the last Session but failed to make it onto the statute book before the General Election was called.

Standing Orders state that any bill whose main purpose is to implement proposals in a Law Commission report is usually referred to a ‘Second Reading committee’ for its Second Reading debate, rather than debated in the House of Commons Chamber. This is because Law Commission bills are typically uncontroversial or focused on tidying-up measures. However, last week, the Government moved a motion to override this process, to allow the debate on the Bill to take place in the Chamber instead.

MPs will then consider three Government motions, relating to:

• the Charter for Budget Responsibility: MPs will be asked to approve the draft Charter for Budget Responsibility which the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, first published alongside the Budget in October and then formally laid before the House of Commons last week. The Budget Responsibility Act 2024 requires the Government to request an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) assessment of any “fiscally significant” measures. The Act requires that the Chancellor specify the definition of “fiscally significant” in the Charter for Budget Responsibility, the document which presents the Government’s approach to fiscal policy and provides guidance to the OBR on its statutory functions. Any modification of the Charter must first be published in draft at least 28 days prior to being laid before Parliament before then being approved by the House of Commons. The new Charter specifies that a measure is fiscally significant if it would cost the equivalent of 1% of GDP in any financial year.

• the Welfare Cap: MPs will be asked to approve the level of the welfare cap set out in the Autumn Budget. The cap limits the amount that the Government may spend on certain social security benefits and tax credits covering approximately half of all welfare spending (see the House of Commons Library briefing). The Autumn Budget set the welfare cap for the next six fiscal years (see table 1.6), requiring House of Commons approval under the Charter for Budget Responsibility. MPs will also vote on a motion addressing an expected breach of the welfare cap in 2024-25. The Charter mandates that if the OBR forecasts a breach, the Work and Pensions Secretary must justify it to the House and seek approval for the breach. The Government’s motion attributes the breach to higher-than-expected expenditure on Universal Credit and disability benefits.

Adjournment: The Liberal Democrat MP Claire Young has the adjournment debate on the replacement of the A432 Badminton Road M4 overbridge.

Westminster Hall: There are five debates, on outsourcing by Government Departments; the potential merits of a Youth Mobility Scheme between the EU and UK; housing targets in rural areas; the role of cadet forces; and road safety around schools.

Legislative committees:

• The Public Bill Committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will hear witness evidence for the second day running. A list of witnesses and the anticipated timetable can be found on the Hansard Society’s ‘rolling news’ webpage about the Bill.

• A set of significant draft changes to gambling legislation will be debated in a Delegated Legislation Committee (DLC), including:

  • the Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which will introduce maximum stake limits for online slots games of £5 per game cycle for customers aged over 25 and £2 per game cycle for customers aged 18 to 24; and

  • the Gambling Levy Regulations 2025, which will impose an annual levy on gambling providers to be paid to the Gambling Commission. The Commission will expend money received via the levy for the purposes of supporting projects related to gambling addiction, harms associated with gambling, and its licensing objectives.

• The draft Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2025, which would make changes to recently introduced requirements to separate waste into different streams, will also be debated in a DLC. The regulations would introduce two exemptions to the requirements for recyclable waste to be collected separately:

  • allowing waste collection authorities to collect plastic, glass and metal recyclable waste together, and food and garden waste together, in all circumstances, and not just where an existing exemption applies; and

  • exempting ‘micro-firms’ – entities with fewer than 10 full-time employees – from the waste separation requirements until April 2027.

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes on how many of the £168 million fines proposed by Ofwat on 6 August 2024 against Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water have been collected; outstanding asylum applications by Syrian asylum seekers; and plans to introduce the Future Homes Standard. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 27 January.

Main business: Royal Albert Hall Bill (Third Reading). This is a private bill – a legislative proposal which would change the law as it applies to specific individuals or organisations, rather than the general public. It makes provision relating to the annual seat contribution payable by members of the Royal Albert Hall corporation, the sale of further seats in the Hall, and the exclusion of members from the Hall. The Bill drew criticism when it was first proposed in the last Session because of the Royal Albert Hall’s controversial governance arrangements, and the potential conflicts of interest arising from the fact that three-quarters of its trustees are seat-holders. Because the Bill was lost in the last Session, a motion to revive the Bill was required. During the debate on that motion, the Conservative Peer Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts indicated that he, along with a cross-party group of Peers, would seek to amend the Bill at Third Reading to address some of the conflict of interest issues, and an amendment in his name now appears on the amendment paper.

Following that debate, the House will consider the Second Reading of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill. This legislation, which will allow the Government to reduce business rates for retail and hospitality properties and remove the charitable rate relief from private schools, has already completed its House of Commons stages.

• House of Commons Library briefing

• House of Lords Library briefing

The House will then debate a motion to approve the draft Official Controls (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which make changes to the UK’s post-Brexit import controls regime. The regulations grant the Government powers to dynamically apply sanitary and phytosanitary controls to imports into Great Britain in response to changing risks to plant, animal and public health. This includes implementing key aspects of the new regime, such as Trusted Trader Schemes. Baroness Hoey has tabled a ‘regret motion’ – a motion expressing concerns about a Statutory Instrument without blocking its passage – arguing that the regulations “further distance Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and embed it further under European Union control”.

Grand Committee: National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill (Committee stage, day 2). The Bill was expected to conclude its Committee stage within two days, but progress on the first day was slower than expected and more time may be needed.

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (9:30): The Head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland and the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission will give evidence on the conduct of elections in Northern Ireland.

• Health and Social Care Committee (9:30): The Chief Executive Officer and other senior officials from NHS England will give evidence on the work of NHS England.

• Scottish Affairs Committee (9:30): Experts will give evidence on the Barnett formula, which calculates the grant given to devolved authorities, and the financing of the Scottish government.

• Treasury Committee (14:15): The Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey, along with members of the Financial Policy Committee, will be questioned about the Bank’s recent Financial Stability Report. MPs are also expected to ask about the increasing cost of servicing government debt.

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, Business and Trade Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include plans for an industrial strategy, business confidence, employment costs, international investment, and plans for free trade agreements with countries such as India.

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.

Main business: There will be two debates chosen by the Backbench Business Committee.

• Proportional representation for general elections: This debate was requested by Alex Sobel from the Labour Party, Sarah Olney and Lisa Smart from the Lib Dems, and Ellie Chowns from the Green Party. In their application to the Backbench Business Committee, Alex Sobel said that the initiative followed Sarah Olney’s recent Ten Minute Rule Bill proposing the introduction of a system of PR for parliamentary and local government elections in England. Unusually, the motion “That leave be given to bring in” the Bill was contested and put to a division, which was won narrowly by 138 votes to 136. This was construed by proponents of electoral reform as the House of Commons endorsing PR, but in procedural terms the House had merely agreed that the Bill should be introduced, whereupon its Second Reading was scheduled for Friday 24 January. At twelfth in the queue for Private Members’ Bills, it is unlikely to be debated and progress further. This Backbench Business debate is therefore an alternative mechanism to enable the issues to be discussed by MPs.

  • House of Commons Library briefing

• The future of local post office services: This topic was requested by the Liberal Democrat MP Gideon Amos and Labour’s Melanie Onn. They initially wanted the debate to be titled “Saving Post Offices” but were encouraged by the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee to adopt a more neutral title. At issue is the 115 post offices across the country that are currently being considered for closure, affecting the constituents of dozens of MPs.

Legislative committees:

• The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Public Bill Committee will hold its third and final planned witness evidence session today. A list of witnesses and the anticipated timetable can be found on the Hansard Society’s ‘rolling news’ webpage about the Bill. The final session in the afternoon will include evidence from people and families with relevant experience of assisted dying. The identity of these witnesses has not yet been made public.

• Other Bills being considered in Public Bill Committees: Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill; Finance Bill; and Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Sally Jameson has the adjournment debate on repairs to Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

Westminster Hall: There is one debate today, on medicinal cannabis.

Introduction of new Peers: Two new Peers will be introduced to the House:

• the Lord Bishop of Peterborough; and

• senior lawyer and former principal legal adviser to Sir Keir Starmer when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Levitt (now Baroness Levitt).

Oral questions: Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on musculoskeletal health; the Taliban’s restrictions on women in Afghanistan, including its ban on women attending medical schools; and the role of schools in the commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War Two. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 28 January.

Select Committee appointments: The Senior Deputy Speaker will move 32 motions agreed by the Committee of Selection for appointing and replacing members of House of Lords select committees.

Main business: Three backbench debates will take up the rest of the day, on:

• the tax implications of corporations shifting profits to low and no-tax jurisdictions;

• representations being made to the US government on its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change; and

• the case for a new youth mobility scheme with European countries.

Grand Committee: Four one-hour debates will take place in Grand Committee, on:

• the factors behind low prosecution rates in rape cases, and Government plans to resolve them;

• the impact on creators and the creative industries of the rights reservation model proposed in the Government’s consultation paper Copyright and Artificial Intelligence;

• what discussions the Government has had with the Office for Students about its strategy for 2025 to 2030 and about its decision to pause applications regarding registering institutions, degree-awarding powers and university titles to allow greater focus on the financial sustainability of the sector; and

• steps to deal with the glorification of terrorism and terrorists in the United Kingdom.

Highlights include:

House of Commons

• Public Accounts Committee (10:00): The Permanent Secretaries at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Cabinet Office, and the Chief Technology Officer at the Cabinet Office, will give evidence on the use of AI in Government. The hearing builds on a 2024 National Audit Office report which concluded that “there are risks to value for money if the government does not establish which department has overall ownership and accountability for delivery of the strategy for AI adoption in the public sector”.

The House will not be sitting.

The House will not be sitting.