Presentation bills

28.6The large majority of bills introduced by Ministers, and many of those introduced by private Members, are presented, after notice, under the provisions of Standing Order No 57(1).

Notices of the presentation of bills for their introduction are set down on the Order of Business at the commencement of public business, immediately before the notices of motions that may be taken at that time.

When the name of a private Member, who has given notice of presentation of a bill, is called by the Speaker, they bring a dummy bill, which they have obtained from the Public Bill Office, to the Clerk from behind the Chair; and the Clerk then reads the short title aloud. In the case of government bills, the Public Bill Office will have previously provided the Clerk with the dummy bill, and the Minister in charge, or any other Minister on their behalf (see para 20.18 ), when called by the Speaker, formally moves the presentation, whereupon the Clerk reads the short title. As no question is put on a bill presented without an order of leave, the House has no power to object to its presentation,1 but notices of presentation may be ruled out of order on the same grounds as notices of motion for leave to bring in bills (see para 28.4 ) and no notice may be given of a bill in the same terms as one for which leave has been refused under the ‘ten-minute’ rule during the same session.2

Under Standing Order No 14(7), no notice of presentation of a bill may be given by a private Member in pursuance of Standing Order No 57 until after the fifth Wednesday in a session on which the House sits in order to allow bills introduced under the ballot for Private Members' Bills to have priority on sitting Fridays.