Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

I have already noted the adoption by the UK Parliament of a procedure whereby Bills, or parts of Bills, which are certified by the Speaker of the House of Commons as applying to England alone will be voted on solely by MPs for English constiuencies. (See this blog 25 October 2015. The entry sets out in diagrammatic form the additional stages that a Bill to which these rules apply will have to go.)

We now have had the first example of a Bill being subject to the new Rules. When the Housing and Planning Bill 2015 was introduced in the House of Commons in October 2015, it was the subject of a Speaker’s Certificate that certain clauses did apply to England only. The original certificate has been replaced by a  new certificate reflecting changes that have been made to the bill.

A key part of the process involves the referring of the Bill to a Legislative Grand Committee. In January 2016, there was a short debate on this issue which revealed in particular the complaints of Scottich MPs that they were being treated as second class citizens.

To see the Speaker’s Certificates on the Bill, go to http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/housingandplanning/documents.html.

For the debate on the referral to the Legislative Grand Committee go to http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm160112/debtext/160112-0003.htm#16011280004400