House of Lords: Legislative Procedures

Lord Carlile of Berriew Excerpts

Tuesday 21st April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

I did not quite catch that, but I think that the noble Baroness referred to services of the House. My impression is that the current Lord Speaker and the past Lord Speaker and the Administration of the House have been talking and engaging more with Members, and that should continue. I will certainly keep an eye on that, because Members have an interest in how those services are delivered and how to make best use of them.

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

Does the Leader agree, in relation to Private Members’ Bills starting in the House of Commons, that we should move toward standard pre-legislative scrutiny of the workability of those Bills before their detail is debated in either House?

[Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)]

I suspect that that is not a generic question but one about a specific Bill. I do not think that it would be a standard procedure to have it in place for every Bill. I share the disappointment of many noble Lords that we have not concluded, or are unlikely now to conclude, the passage of that particular Private Member’s Bill, to send amendments back to the House of Commons. The responsibility of this House should be to ensure that we give proper scrutiny and send Bills back. Whether pre-legislative scrutiny would have assisted is something to consider, and it might be something that sponsors of Bills will want to look at in future.