Title
28.119Except in the circumstances described below, the long title can be amended only if the bill has been so altered as to necessitate such an amendment;1 but any amendment to the title that may be necessary is made.2 No question is put that the title, or that the title as amended, stand part of the bill; and debate on an amendment must be limited to the question of whether the alteration is necessary to bring the title into conformity with the bill.3
Where a bill has been divided in committee and it is necessary to provide the new bill with a title, the question ‘That the title be the title to the bill’ is put after notice of the title has been given.4
Where a title has referred to a proposal not contained in a bill as introduced, an amendment to the title not consequential on any amendment to the bill has been permitted to be made.5
The short title of a bill may be amended by means of an amendment to the citation clause (see para 26.6 ), and a corresponding alteration is thereupon made by the Public Bill Office to the title by which the bill is referred to in the House (see para 28.123 ).
Footnotes
- 1. HC Deb (1930) 246, c 996; ibid (1976–77) 923, c 1679.
- 2. CJ (1854–55) 223; ibid (1933–34) 150, 161; ibid (1934–35) 208 (on re-committal).
- 3. HC Deb (1913) 55, cc 457–58, 465.
- 4. Local Government, Planning and Land (No 2) Bill, Stg Co Deb (1979–80) Co D, c 932.
- 5. New Streets Bill, Stg Co Deb (1950–51) Co B, c 718; Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, ibid (1952–53) Co B, c 1059; Parliamentary Control of Expenditure (Reform) Bill (changed to National Audit Bill), Stg Co Deb (1982–83) Co C, c 254; Activity Centres (Young Persons' Safety) Bill, Stg Co Deb (1994–95) Co C, c 90; Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill Committee, 20 June 2018, c 18. See also para 28.149, fn 1 for corresponding amendments moved on third reading.