What happens at committee stage of a bill
Committee stage is where a bill is examined line by line and amendments are proposed, debated and decided. It is the stage at which the two Houses differ most. In the Commons, most bills go to a public bill committee, a small cross-party committee that mirrors the party balance of the House. In the Lords, committee stage is usually taken by the whole House sitting as a committee, and every amendment tabled can be debated.
Committee stage in the Commons
A public bill committee typically has around 17 MPs, appointed in proportion to party strength, which means the government of the day normally has a majority on it. The committee works through the bill clause by clause: amendments are debated and decided, and each clause is then voted on in a question known as clause stand part.
For a programmed government bill that started in the Commons, the committee usually begins by taking evidence, hearing from ministers, officials, experts and affected organisations, and accepting written submissions. This makes committee stage the main door through which outside expertise formally enters a bill’s record.
Not every amendment tabled is debated. The chair selects amendments and groups them by subject, so related arguments are heard together and out-of-scope or defective amendments fall away.
Committee of the Whole House
Some Commons bills are instead examined by the whole House sitting as a committee. This is reserved for bills of constitutional significance, bills that must pass urgently, and parts of each year’s Finance Bill. If a bill leaves a Committee of the Whole House without amendment, it skips report stage and proceeds directly to third reading.
Committee stage in the Lords
The Lords normally takes committee stage on the floor of the House, with every peer able to take part, or in Grand Committee, a parallel sitting off the floor where no votes are taken, so amendments there are agreed only if no one objects. There is no selection of amendments in the Lords: every amendment tabled may be debated. Many are probing amendments, tabled to extract a ministerial explanation on the record rather than to change the text, and withdrawn after the minister replies.
What committee stage actually changes
Most amendments that pass are government amendments, often making concessions promised earlier or correcting drafting. Opposition and backbench amendments are usually withdrawn after debate, but the exchange matters: what a minister concedes, resists or promises to reconsider at committee sets the agenda for report stage, where the contested questions return in front of the whole House.
Bills at this stage right now
From official parliamentary data, most recently updated first.
- Social Housing Bill [HL] · 27 October 2026
- Highways (Financing) Bill · 27 October 2026
- Immigration and Asylum Bill · 27 October 2026
- Representation of the People Bill · 27 October 2026
- Health Bill · 27 October 2026
- British Sovereignty Protection (Chagos Islands) Bill [HL] · 26 October 2026
- House of Lords (Alternative Second Chamber) Bill [HL] · 26 October 2026
- Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (Restoration of Powers and Responsibilities) Bill [HL] · 21 October 2026
- Microplastic Filters (Washing Machines) Bill [HL] · 21 October 2026
- Creative Education Access Bill [HL] · 14 September 2026
- Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL] · 14 September 2026
- Cohabitation Rights Bill [HL] · 9 September 2026
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