Clear the Lobby: What laws are MPs voting on this week (w/c 7th September)?

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!

Hey team.

Some familiar fixtures are back in Parliament this week.

The first is Backbench Business Committee debates.

This is an opportunity for backbenchers to set the agenda. Thursday’s debates are on the aviation sector and support for the tourism industry amid COVID-19.

The second is private members’ bills.

They return for the first time since the pandemic started. All details are below, but the usual caveat applies: due to time constraints, realistically only a few will be heard.

Wednesday is an Opposition Day debate.

Among the issues Labour has gone for is the role of the prime minister and education secretary in the “exams fiasco” (their words) over the summer. A clear sign that Keir Starmer and co. aren’t letting this one go in a hurry.

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

Sebastian (@sebastiansalek)

MONDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

Fire Safety Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Requires owners and managers of multi-occupied residential buildings to inspect cladding and fire doors. (The law is currently unclear on what parts of such buildings fire safety regulation applies to.) Gives fire and rescue services the power to hold those owners or managers to account. Allows the government to implement the recommendations from the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, like new requirements for signage and evacuation plans.
Draft bill / Commons Library briefing

TUESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER

White Goods (Registration) Bill
Requires retailers to register white goods at the point of sale to make product recalls easier. Ten minute rule motion presented by Yvonne Fovargue. She wrote this article in 2018 explaining the rationale.

Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Increases the number of countries whose wanted individuals can be arrested by British police without a court warrant. The application process takes at least a few hours, which raises the chances of the person offending or escaping before they can be detailed. Started in the Lords, who added safeguards to the process of including more countries in the future, amid concerns about extraditing to territories with poor human rights records.
Draft bill (PDF) / Commons Library briefing

WEDNESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

Houses in Multiple Occupation Bill
Increases penalties for people breaking the terms of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences. These are required when renting properties to three or more people from different families (i.e. house shares). Ten minute rule motion presented by Ian Levy.

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

No votes scheduled

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies (Environmentally Sustainable Investment) Bill – 2nd reading
Enables co-operative and community benefit societies to issue “green shares”, to raise money for making environmentally sustainable investments. Restricts these organisations from becoming private companies, winding up and sharing out the capital. Private members’ bill presented by Anna McMorrin.
Draft bill / Commons Library briefing

Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition) (No. 2) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Bans unpaid work experience of more than four weeks. Private members’ bill presented by Alex Cunningham.
Draft bill

Hospitals (Parking Charges and Business Rates) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, 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

Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill – 2nd Reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Scraps the plan to cut the number of MPs to 600, from 650 (N.B. the government has already ditched this plan). Private members’ bill presented by Peter Bone.
Draft bill

International Development (Women’s Sanitary Products) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Requires the government to report on how international aid is being used to increase the availability of women’s sanitary products. The aim is to hold the government to account for its pledge to eradicate period poverty globally by 2030. Private members’ bill presented by Wendy Chamberlain. More information here.
Draft bill

Public Advocate (No. 2) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Creates the role of public advocate to give advice to families of people killed in major incidents. Seeks to avoid a repeat of the lengthy process after the Hillsborough disaster. Private members’ bill presented by Maria Eagle. More information here.
Draft bill (PDF)

European Union Withdrawal (Implementation Period) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Wales
Requires the government to extend the Brexit transition period for two years (N.B. under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, this option expired at the start of July) and repeals the commitment not to extend the transition period in domestic law. Private members’ bill presented by Sir Edward Davey.
Draft bill (PDF)

Abortion (Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate and Clubfoot) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland
Amends the Abortion Act to exclude cleft lip, cleft palate and clubfoot as qualifying physical abnormalities for allowing a medical termination. Private members’ bill presented by Fiona Bruce.
Draft bill (PDF)

Pedicabs (London) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Regulates pedicabs to the same degree as taxis and private hire services. Requires drivers to have a licence from Transport for London to operate, and gives TfL the power to regulate prices and vehicles used. Private members’ bill presented by Nickie Aiken.
Draft bill (PDF)

Employment (Reasonable Adjustments for Carers) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland
Requires employers to make reasonable adjustments to allow employees with caring responsibilities for disabled people to provide that care. Private members’ bill presented by Sir Edward Davey.
Draft bill (PDF)

Local Electricity Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland
Allows electricity generators to sell their energy to local people. Private members’ bill presented by Peter Aldous.
Draft bill (PDF)

Employment (Dismissal and Re-employment) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland
Bans employers from firing employees and re-hiring them on different terms. Private members’ bill presented by Gavin Newlands.
Draft bill (PDF)

Internet Access (Children Eligible for Free School Meals) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Requires the government to ensure that all children eligible for free school meals have a broadband connection and facilities to access the internet at home. Private members’ bill presented by Siobhain McDonagh.
Draft bill (PDF)

Sexual Offences (Sports Coaches) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Adds sports coaches to the list of “positions of trust” in the Sexual Offences Act. Among other things, this means it’s illegal for them to have any sexual activity with under 18s. Private members’ bill presented by Tracey Crouch.
Draft bill (PDF)

European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) (Extension) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Repeals section 15A of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act, which prohibits the UK from requesting an extention to the Brexit transition period (N.B. the deadline for requesting an extension passed at the start of July). Private members’ bill presented by Layla Moran.
Draft bill (PDF)

Police Stop and Search (Repeal) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Repeals police stop and search powers as outlined in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Private members’ bill presented by Sir Edward Davey.
Draft bill (PDF)

Magistrates (Retirement Age) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Raises the mandatory retirement age for magistrates to 75, from 70. Private members’ bill presented by Edward Timpson.
Draft bill (PDF)

Magistrates (Retirement Age) Bill – 2nd reading
Applies to: England, Wales
Raises the mandatory retirement age for magistrates to 75, from 70. Private members’ bill presented by Edward Timpson.
Draft bill (PDF)

Domestic Properties (Minimum Energy Performance) Bill – 2nd reading
Requires the government to ensure that domestic properties have a minimum energy performance rating of C on an Energy Performance Certificate. Private members’ bill presented by Sir David Amess.

Coronavirus Inquiry Bill – 2nd reading
Requires the Prime Minister to establish a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Private members’ bill presented by Sir Edward Davey.

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

LAST WEEK’S VOTES

Passed

• Immigration (Health and Social Care Staff) Bill – goes to 2nd reading
• Fisheries Bill – goes to committee stage
• Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill – goes to 2nd reading
• Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Bill – goes to committee stage
• Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill – goes to Lords

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

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