Clear the Lobby: What Laws are MPs voting on this week? W/C 22nd November 2021

Welcome to our weekly feature courtesy of Sebastian Salek, the brains behind Clear the Lobby, working to bring you all the laws MPs are voting on this week, and explained in plain English!

Click here to join more than 5,000 people and get this in your email inbox for free every Sunday. Click here for daily updates on Twitter.

Hey team,

The social care conundrum is back on the agenda.

The Health and Care Bill is debated at report stage on Monday and Tuesday, which means any MP can propose an amendment.

The health secretary will offer more detail on the cap on care costs.

Back in September the government said no one in England would pay more than £86,000 in care fees during their lifetime. Now it’s saying that support payments from local councils won’t count towards the limit. Expect a potential backbench rebellion.

The other big bill this week is about COVID-related commercial rent debts.

Lots of businesses have built up debts during the pandemic. This bill is intended to ensure that they can come to agreements with their landlords rather than going bust.

Until next week. In the meantime, feel free to tweet me, or just reply to this email.

Sebastian (@sebastiansalek)

We’re on Patreon!
Will you help us make UK politics more accessible?
Support us on Patreon so we can do even more!
Become a patron on Patreon

MONDAY 22 NOVEMBER

Health and Care Bill – report stage and 3rd reading
Applies to: England, Scotland (part), Wales, Northern Ireland (part)
Aims to integrate the health system (run by the NHS) and the care system (run by local authorities) by giving both bodies a duty to collaborate with each other. This replaces the 2012 reforms which put a big focus on competition and markets. Gives the health secretary more powers over the NHS, such as intervening in hospital closures and creating new trusts.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

Climate Education Bill
Requires climate change and sustainability issues to be included throughout the curriculum in primary and secondary schools, and on vocational training courses. Ten minute rule motion presented by Nadia Whittome.

Health and Care Bill – report stage and 3rd reading
Continued from Monday.

WEDNESDAY 24 NOVEMBER

Social Media Platforms (Identity Verification) Bill
Requires social media platforms to offer a user identity verification process to all users. Allows users to limit or block interaction with others who haven’t verified their identity. Ten minute rule motion presented by Siobhan Baillie.

Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England (part), Wales (part), Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Enables arbitration to be used to resolve rent disputes between landlords and commercial tenants. Aims to ensure that rent debt that built up because of pandemic closures doesn’t force an otherwise viable business to fold.
Draft bill (PDF)

THURSDAY 25 NOVEMBER

No votes scheduled

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER

Down Syndrome Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Establishes a national strategy which aims to improve provision and outcomes for people with Down syndrome. Requires authorities to take people with Down’s syndrome into account when providing education, health and care services. Private members’ bill presented by Liam Fox.
Draft bill (PDF)

Pension Schemes (Conversion of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England (part), Wales (part), Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Clarifies existing legislation to streamline the process of GMP conversion (moving people with a guaranteed minimum pension onto an ordinary scheme). Private members’ bill presented by Margaret Ferrier.
Draft bill (PDF)

Registers of Births and Deaths Bill – report stage and 3rd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland (part), Northern Ireland (part)
Introduces an electronic register for recording births and deaths. Currently they are also recorded on paper, and this bill removes that aspect. Private members’ bill presented by Saqib Bhatti.
Draft bill (PDF)

Public Bodies (Representation from Devolved Nations) Bill – 2nd reading
Requires boards of public bodies to include at least one person with relevant experience of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Private members’ bill presented by Wendy Chamberlain.

Electoral Commission (Abolition) Bill – 2nd reading
Abolishes the Electoral Commission. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.

Illegal Immigration (Offences) Bill – 2nd reading
Creates new offences for people who have entered the UK illegally, or have overstayed their visas. Private members’ bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Full Employment Bill – 2nd reading
Requires the chancellor to pursue a policy of full employment (one definition is when there are more vacancies than people seeking jobs). Creates an employment guarantee scheme for benefit claimants who have been unemployed and looking for work for longer than six months. Private members’ bill presented by Chris Stephens.

Health and Safety at Work Bill – 2nd reading
Amend the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 to make provision about civil liability for breaches of health and safety duties. More information not yet available. Private members’ bill presented by Chris Stephens.

Corporate Homicide Bill – 2nd reading
Makes changes to the criminal offence of corporate homicide. More information not yet published. Private members’ bill presented by Chris Stephens.

Workers (Rights and Definition) Bill – 2nd reading
Establishes a legal definition of employment, which includes zero-hours contracts and agency workers. The aim is to prevent abuse of people working under these arrangements. Private members’ bill presented by Chris Stephens.

BBC Licence Fee (Abolition) Bill – 2nd reading
Abolishes the licence fee and makes the BBC a subscription service. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.

Homeless People (Current Accounts) Bill – 2nd reading
Requires banks to provide current accounts for homeless people seeking work. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.

Electoral Candidates (Age) Bill – 2nd reading
Changes the minimum age of candidates in parliamentary and local elections to age 18 on the day of the election. It’s currently age 18 at time of nomination. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.

Leader of the House of Commons (Election) Bill – 2nd reading
Requires MPs to elect the leader of the House of Commons. The prime minister may nominate someone who must be from the governing party. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.

General Election (Leaders’ Debates) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Sets up a commission to make arrangements for debates between leaders of political parties during a General Election. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.
Draft bill (PDF)

Hospitals (Parking Charges and Business Rates) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England and Wales
Bans NHS hospitals from charging patients and visitors for car parking. Makes NHS hospitals exempt from business rates. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.
Draft bill

Voter Registration Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Bans people from registering to vote in parliamentary elections in more than one constituency. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.
Draft bill (PDF)

Asylum Seekers (Return to Safe Countries) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Requires asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK from a safe country to be returned immediately to that country. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.
Draft bill (PDF)

Plastics (Wet Wipes) Bill – 2nd reading
Bans the manufacture and sale of wet wipes containing plastic. Private members’ bill presented by Fleur Anderson.

Peerage Nominations (Disqualification of Party Donors) Bill – 2nd reading
Prevents people who have donated £50,000 or more to a political party within the last five years from being nominated for a peerage. Private members’ bill presented by Angus Brendan MacNeil.

Children’s Clothing (Value Added Tax) Bill – 2nd reading
Extends the definition of children’s clothing (including school uniforms) so more of it is VAT exempt. Currently clothes and shoes for “young children” are VAT exempt, but there is no legal definition of that term. Private members’ bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Caravan Site Licensing (Exemptions of Motor Homes) Bill – 2nd reading
Exempts motor homes from caravan site licensing requirements. Private members’ bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Channel 4 (Privatisation) Bill – 2nd reading
Privatises Channel 4. Private members’ bill presented by Christopher Chope.

British Broadcasting Corporation (Privatisation) Bill – 2nd reading
Privatises the BBC and distributes shares in the corporation to all licence fee payers. Private members’ bill presented by Christopher Chope.

Want more?
Check your MP’s voting record and read the day’s debates at TheyWorkForYou.

LAST WEEK’S VOTES

Passed

• Social Security (Uprating Of Benefits) Bill – goes back to Lords
• Skills and Post-16 Education Bill – goes to committee stage
• Flooding (Prevention and Insurance) Bill – goes to second reading
• Finance (No. 2) Bill – goes to committee stage
• Disposable Barbecues Bill – goes to second reading
• Critical Benchmarks (References and Administrators’ Liability) Bill – goes back to Lords
• Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill – goes to committee stage
• Glue Traps (Offences) Bill – goes to committee stage
• Pedicabs (London) Bill – goes to committee stage

Not passed

• Planning (Enforcement) Bill – withdrawn
• Domestic Building Works (Consumer Protection) Bill – withdrawn

Postponed

• All other private members’ bills

Click here to read details of the bills in last week’s newsletter.