How the UK Parliament actually works

The passage of a bill

What happens at each stage, where the Commons and the Lords differ, and what to watch. Every guide links to the live bills at that stage in our free bill tracker.

• What happens at first reading of a bill

  First reading is the formal start of a UK bill: no debate, no vote, the bill is presented and printed. What it means, why it matters, and which bills are at first reading now.

• What happens at second reading of a bill

  Second reading is the first debate on the principle of a UK bill and the first vote on whether it proceeds. How the debate works in the Commons and the Lords, and which bills are at second reading now.

• What happens at committee stage of a bill

  Committee stage is the line-by-line examination of a UK bill, and the stage where the two Houses differ most: public bill committees in the Commons, Committee of the Whole House in the Lords.

• What happens at report stage of a bill

  Report stage gives the whole House its chance to amend a UK bill after committee. How it works in the Commons and the Lords, why it is where governments most often lose votes, and the bills at report stage now.

• What happens at third reading of a bill

  Third reading is the final debate on a UK bill in each House. In the Commons no amendments can be made; in the Lords tidying amendments are still allowed. What the stage decides and which bills are there now.

• What is ping pong? Consideration of amendments explained

  Ping pong is the exchange of amendments between the Commons and the Lords until both Houses agree the same text of a bill. How it works, how it ends, and the bills in ping pong right now.

• What happens at Royal Assent

  Royal Assent is the monarch’s agreement that turns a UK bill into an Act of Parliament. How it is granted, when the new law actually takes effect, and the bills that have recently received it.

• How a bill becomes law in the UK

  The full journey of a UK bill from first reading to Royal Assent: every stage in both Houses, how long it takes, and how to track a bill through Parliament as it moves.

• How private members’ bills work

  Private members’ bills are introduced by backbench MPs and peers rather than the government. The ballot, the ten minute rule, Friday sittings, why so few pass, and the ones that changed the law.

• How secondary legislation works

  Statutory instruments are laws made by ministers under powers granted by an Act of Parliament. The negative and affirmative procedures, why SIs cannot usually be amended, and how Parliament scrutinises them.

• What happens to a bill when a session ends

  When a UK parliamentary session ends, bills still in progress normally fall. Carry-over motions, the wash-up before a general election, and what dissolution means for pending legislation.

• How the House of Lords considers a bill

  The House of Lords takes a bill through the same stages as the Commons under very different rules: no timetabling, no selection of amendments, and real power to change the text. What differs and why it matters.

• How amendments to a bill work

  How amendments to UK bills are tabled, selected, grouped, debated and decided in the Commons and the Lords, what probing amendments are for, and why most amendments are withdrawn rather than voted on.

Who is the minister for that?

The current ministerial team of every UK government department, from the official parliamentary record, checked daily. See all departments and the Cabinet.

• HM Treasury
• Home Office
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Justice
• Department of Health and Social Care
• Department for Education
• Department for Business and Trade
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department for Transport
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
• Northern Ireland Office
• Scotland Office
• Wales Office
• Cabinet Office

Working for an MP or a peer?

A plain guide to what a researcher or caseworker can ask Emily about the record, what she does not hold, and free access for parliament.uk addresses.