Procedure and Privileges Committee

Lord Watson of Invergowrie Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Senior Deputy Speaker (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)]

My Lords, the first part of the report proposes changes to Grand Committee sittings and to debates on delegated legislation in order to increase the House’s capacity to scrutinise legislation before it and to give Peers more certainty around timings.

The committee recommends that the default maximum sitting length of Grand Committee should be increased to five hours, with Grand Committee on Thursday starting at 12.15 pm rather than 1 pm. Furthermore, we recommend that there should be an additional Grand Committee for delegated legislation only, on Tuesday starting at 11 am and sitting for up to three hours. As now, these provisions will be used only when necessary.

We also recommend changes to debates on delegated legislation to create greater certainty for Members—both those taking part in debates on delegated legislation and those taking part in business after such debates. We recommend time-limiting debates on delegated legislation in the Chamber to a maximum of 60 minutes and having a speakers’ list. The usual channels would, in exceptional circumstances, be able to extend the time limit to 90 minutes or longer.

The committee also recommends that, during debates on delegated legislation, both in the Chamber and in Grand Committee, the clock should time the length of speeches rather than the whole debate, bringing practice on the use of the clock into line with that for debates on primary legislation. All these changes, if agreed by the House, will be implemented for a trial period only and reviewed in spring 2027.

The second part of the report seeks the House’s agreement to changes to the Standing Orders and the Companion that reflect the coming into force at the end of this Session of the core provisions of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026. This requires the repeal of eight Standing Orders and the amendment of another, along with consequential changes to the Companion.

Finally, the report seeks the House’s agreement to minor changes to the Companion following the House’s decision on 14 April that departing hereditary Peers should have the same access rights as Members who retire under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. I commend the report to your Lordships and beg to move.

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, I speak as the chair of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, and I want to put on the record that I very much approve of the suggested additional day on Tuesdays specifically for delegated legislation. It is important that delegated legislation is given the stature that it deserves, and I think this will be a popular addition to the abilities of Members of your Lordships’ House to discuss delegated legislation. I note that it is only for a trial period initially, but I feel sure that it will be adopted on a permanent basis at the end of that period, which I would very much welcome.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise to express some concern about paragraph 16 of the report, under “Proposals relating to Delegated Legislation”, on time-limiting debates to 60, or possibly 90, minutes. For the sake of clarity, I wish to know whether that also applies when there is a regret or fatal Motion—I am getting a nod from the Chief Whip—or, indeed, both regret and fatal Motions, or sometimes multiple regret and fatal Motions. At this point, I guess all I can do is ask the usual channels to assure us that they will appropriately use that possibility of extension—I am getting a nod here, too, which I am putting on the record.

I am thinking back to the debate, which I am sure many noble Lords will remember, in the name of my noble friend Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb regarding the proscription of Palestine Action. From memory, that debate took three or four hours, engaged very many Members of your Lordships’ House and was a very serious issue for the country.

It is terribly important. We are seeing, and we hear many times, the problem with Henry VIII powers and the way in which the Government are using delegated legislation, instead of full legislation that we can debate and amend. This could very much be seen as a way to shut down debate on really important issues on which there is great concern in the House. I want to put that on the record and say that we will certainly be watching this very closely.