Questions and statements: At 14:30, Education Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include funding for and access to SEND support, A-Levels and T-Levels, teacher retention, school examinations, a Ukrainian GCSE, flu vaccination levels, pay for school support staff, academy governance, gender-questioning children, and oversight of children’s care homes.

At 15:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow. Each Urgent Question lasts around 40 minutes on average, and Ministerial Statements last an average of around 50 minutes.

Public Office (Accountability) Bill (Report and Third Reading): The main provisions of this Bill – popularly known as the Hillsborough Law – were outlined in an earlier edition of the Bulletin. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Report Stage and Third Reading had originally been scheduled to take place last Wednesday, but the Government announced the day before the debate that it would be re-scheduling the debate to today.

The delay arose after the Government failed to come to an agreement with Labour backbenchers on whether and how the new duty of candour should apply to the intelligence services.

When the Bill was first presented to Parliament it provided a carve-out from the duty of candour to persons working for the intelligence services. Amendments tabled by Labour backbencher Ian Byrne would have effectively eliminated those carve-outs. The Government tabled compromise amendments to allow persons working for the intelligence services to provide information and assistance to investigations with the permission of the head of the relevant intelligence service, who could only refuse on national security grounds.

Press reports suggest that campaigners for bereaved families – including those of the Hillsborough disaster and the Manchester Arena bombing – object on the grounds that decisions to withhold information on national security grounds should not rest solely with intelligence chiefs. Instead, they argue, any such request should be put before the inquiry chair for independent determination, rather than leaving the intelligence services with the final say. The Government has now tabled a new amendment ahead of this debate requiring the heads of the intelligence services to notify the inquiry chair if they refuse permission for officials to provide information. However, it would stop short of giving the chair the final decision. Further press reports indicate that attempts to broker a compromise have so far been unsuccessful.

We discuss the background to this Bill, the competing amendments, the failure to reach a compromise and the political stakes arising from any Government backbench rebellion in support of amendments tabled by Ian Byrne and other MPs, and backed by campaigners, in the latest episode of our Parliament Matters podcast.

In accordance with the programme order agreed on 3 November 2025, the Report Stage debate will end by 21:00 at the latest. The House will then vote on any Government amendments, as well as any other amendments the Speaker selects for separate decision.

Once the votes have concluded, the House will move on to Third Reading. In accordance with the programme order, the Third Reading debate must conclude no later than 22:00, one hour after the expected end of the Report Stage debate. As divisions on amendments will take up most – if not all – of that one-hour period, the Third Reading debate is expected to be very short. It will then head to the House of Lords to complete all its stages there.

Motions: MPs will be asked to consider two motions without debate – one to approve a local government Statutory Instrument and the other to change the membership of the House’s internal Finance Committee.

Adjournment: Liberal Democrat MP Vikki Slade will give a speech on the Disclosure and Barring Service. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

16:30: MPs will debate e-petitions 738192, which calls for a reduction in the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks and has around 182,000 signatures, and 732559, which calls for the sale of fireworks to be limited to council-approved events and has around 193,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Commons ↘

Introduction of new Peers: At 14:30, two new Labour Peers will be introduced to the House:

• Joe Docherty, now Lord Docherty of Milngavie, a businessman and public servant; and

• David Pitt-Watson, now Lord Pitt-Watson, an entrepreneur and a former Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s code of practice on single-sex spaces; the cost of public inquiries in 2025; reducing domestic violence against children; and nuclear research collaboration with Japan.

Urgent Question repeat: A minister will repeat the statement on Government policy on mandatory digital ID given in the House of Commons last week.

Statement: Transport Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill will make a statement on Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill (Third Reading): The House of Lords is expected to conclude proceedings on this Government Bill to implement the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, commonly known as the High Seas Treaty. Third Reading debates in the House of Lords are typically very short. Because the House made some technical amendments at the Committee and Report Stages, the Bill will need to return to the House of Commons so that MPs can formally approve these changes. The Bill will then be sent to receive Royal Assent. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Report, day 2): Today is the second of five days currently allocated to the Report Stage of the Government’s Bill to reform schools and children’s social care. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Report Stage, the whole House decides whether any amendments should be made, or new clauses added, to the Bill. Similar amendments and new clauses will be grouped together for debate, to prevent repetition and create a more focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments.

The next groups of amendments to be debated relate to support for care leavers, duties of local authorities and public bodies with respect to children, children placed in temporary accommodation, children deprived of liberty, and the regulation of children’s homes and agencies.

It is possible that the House will consider amendments in relation to children’s use of social media, most notably including amendment 94 from Lord Nash which would require all social media services to prevent children under the age of 16 becoming users. However, the House may not reach those amendments until the next sitting on Wednesday 21 January.

Statement: Debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will be interrupted for a short statement on the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7 offshore wind results, which will be made by Lord Whitehead, a Minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Once the Statement is complete consideration of the Children’s Bill will resume.

Grand Committee

15:45: Pension Schemes Bill (Committee, day 3): Today is the third of five days currently scheduled for Committee Stage of this Government Bill to reform the pensions regime, the provisions of which were outlined in an earlier edition of the Bulletin. At Committee Stage, Peers consider whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. (House of Lords Library briefing)

The next clauses and groups of amendments to be debated relate to the power for pension schemes to pay surplus funds to employers, clawback provisions, and requirements to assess and disclose a scheme’s value for money.

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

15:00: Public Accounts Committee – An analysis of the asylum system: The Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office and the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

Help keep this Bulletin free for everyone. The Bulletin is free and we want to keep it that way. But as a charity we rely on donations to fund the research and production costs that make it possible. A small regular donation – even £3 a month, less than a cup of coffee – helps us keep this Bulletin freely available to everyone interested in Parliament. Donate here

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Select Committees ↘

Questions and statements: At 11:30, the Foreign Secretary and other Foreign Office Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include Yemen, Israel and Palestine, Greenland and the Arctic, forced labour practices, cyber-attacks, overseas aid, Ukraine, the Falkland Islands, Syria, Georgia, Iran, and international organised immigration crime.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Independent MP Shockat Adam will seek to introduce a Glaucoma Care (England) Bill under the Ten Minute Rule which allows MPs to give a ten-minute speech in favour of a Bill before seeking the House’s permission to introduce it. The Bill would make provision about the detection, treatment and monitoring of glaucoma by optometrists in England and about the integration of optometry and ophthalmology services for the purpose of glaucoma care. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Sentencing Bill (Consideration of Lords Amendments): The Government suffered one defeat during the Bill’s passage through the Lords, when Peers voted to require Crown Court sentencing remarks to be published free of charge within 14 days of a request. The Government is likely to seek to reverse or modify that change. The Commons now has three options: it can accept the Lords amendment, reject it outright, or propose an alternative. The Bill will return to the Lords if the Commons rejects the amendment or proposes an alternative. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Holocaust Memorial Bill (Consideration of Lords Amendments): Originally introduced in the House of Commons in 2023, this Bill was carried over into the current Parliament following the General Election, as is permitted for hybrid legislation. Its purpose is to amend planning restrictions to enable a new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to be constructed in Victoria Tower Gardens, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament. (House of Commons Library briefing)

The Bill received its Third Reading in the House of Lords over six months ago, an unusually long gap before the Commons now considers the Lords amendments. The Government suffered only one defeat during the Bill’s passage through the Lords. At Report Stage, Peers agreed an amendment providing that the sole purpose of any Learning Centre must be the provision of education about the Holocaust and antisemitism. The Government now faces a choice: it can seek to remove that amendment, accept it, or propose an alternative formulation.

Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill (Consideration of Lords Amendments): This Bill – which implements the Agreement with Mauritius regarding the Chagos Archipelago – completed its passage through the House of Lords last week. Because Peers have amended the Bill, it is now returning to the House of Commons for MPs to consider the Lords’ changes.

The Government suffered four defeats in the Upper House, which the Government is likely to seek to reverse or replace. These four amendments were outlined in last week’s edition of the Bulletin. Again, the House of Commons must decide whether to agree with each amendment, disagree with it outright, or propose an alternative. Unless the House agrees to all four amendments, the Bill will return to the House of Lords once again, and Peers will then need to decide how to respond to the Commons.

Adjournment: Labour MP Shaun Davies will give a speech on 5G connectivity in Telford and the West Midlands. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: The role of the NHS in preventing domestic homicides and domestic abuse-related deaths (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: Out-of-area placements in temporary accommodation (House of Commons Library briefing)

14:30: The enforcement of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Cultural opportunities in County Durham

16:30: ADHD diagnosis (House of Commons Library briefing / Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POSTNote)

Public Bill Committees

09:25 and 14:00: Railways Bill (Committee, day 1): This Bill to reform the operation of the railways will begin its Committee Stage today. The main provisions of the Bill were outlined in a recent edition of the Bulletin.

At Committee Stage, the Public Bill Committee must decide whether each clause and schedule should “stand part” of the Bill, and whether any amendments should be made. However, before it begins its clause-by-clause scrutiny on Thursday, the Committee will spend today’s two sittings gathering oral evidence from witnesses. The witness list will have been agreed in advance between the Government and Opposition Whips.

Delegated Legislation Committees

14:30: The draft Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Carer’s Assistance) (Consequential Modifications) Order 2026

16:30: The draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Commons ↘

Introduction of new Peers: At 14:30, two new Peers will be introduced to the House:

• Neena Gill, now Baroness Gill, a former Labour Member of the European Parliament; and

• Sharron Davies, now Baroness Davies of Devonport, a former Olympic swimmer and sports broadcaster, who will sit as a Conservative Peer.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on the East Coast Main Line; youth unemployment; the parental leave and pay review; and the findings of the MBBRACE-UK report on maternal mortality.

Business of the House motion: The Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, will ask Peers to agree that Standing Order 38(1) should be dispensed with on Tuesday 27 January to enable Committee Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill to begin before oral questions that day. The Standing Order stipulates that normally oral questions should be the first item of business on each sitting day.

Crown Estate (Wales) Bill (Third Reading): This Private Member’s Bill, presented by Plaid Cymru’s Lord Wigley, would transfer responsibility for the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government. As the Bill is not supported by the Government, it is unlikely to become law. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Crime and Policing Bill (Committee, day 11): This is the eleventh of 14 days currently allocated for Committee Stage on the Government’s Bill to reform the criminal justice and policing system. The House has now reached Parts 10 and 11 of the Bill, which relate to police powers and the proceeds of crime. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Committee Stage, the House examines the Bill clause-by-clause and decides whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill. The next clauses and groups of amendments to be debated relate to cyclists and electric bikes, review mechanisms for police powers, non-crime hate incidents, and the confiscation and recovery of the proceeds of crime.

Because amendments that are voted on and defeated at Committee Stage cannot be moved again at Report Stage, many amendments tabled at Committee Stage are probing amendments, designed to test the opinion of the Government or the mood of the wider House before deciding whether to put the amendment to a vote at Report Stage.

Short debate on atrocity crimes: At approximately 19:30, the House will pause its consideration of the Crime and Policing Bill for a one-hour “dinner-break business” slot. During this period, Peers will hold a Question for Short Debate (QSD) on the mechanisms in place to evaluate the risk of potential atrocity crimes occurring, including crimes against humanity and genocide, and the measures taken when such risks are identified. The debate will be led by the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Lord Alton of Liverpool. (House of Lords Library briefing)

A QSD provides an opportunity for a short debate on a single topic, with a Government Minister or Whip responding at the end. Scrutiny of the Crime and Policing Bill will resume when this debate concludes.

Grand Committee

15:45: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Committee, day 1): This is the first of seven days allocated for consideration of the Bill to reform the structure of local government in England. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Committee Stage, the House examines the Bill clause-by-clause and decides whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. This scrutiny is taking place in Grand Committee, which meets in a large committee room called the Moses Room rather than the main Chamber. In Grand Committee, all Peers may attend and speak, but there are no formal votes (divisions). Amendments can therefore only be agreed by unanimous consent.

The Committee considers the clauses and amendments in the order in which they appear, or would appear, in the Bill, so the House will first consider the early clauses in the Bill (and related amendments), which include provisions to establish a new local government structure known as Strategic Authorities. More detail about the Bill’s provisions can be found in an earlier edition of the Bulletin.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:45: Treasury Committee – Bank of England Financial Stability Reports: The Governor Andrew Bailey and other senior Bank officials will give evidence.

10:00: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee – The future of farming: Former President of the National Farmers’ Union Baroness (Minette) Batters will give evidence on the findings of her Farming Profitability Review which was published in December.

10:00: Foreign Affairs Committee – The UK Government’s China Audit: The German Ambassador to the UK, Susanne Baumann, and three experts in Japanese studies will give evidence.

10:15: Defence Committee – Afghan Data Breach and Resettlement Schemes: Two former Conservative Defence Secretaries, Sir Ben Wallace and Sir Grant Shapps, and former Armed Forces Minister James Heapey will give evidence. We examined the constitutional ramifications of the Afghan data breach and the subsequent imposition of a super-injunction with legal expert Joshua Rozenberg in an episode of our Parliament Matters podcast.

14:00: International Development Committee – The future of UK aid and development assistance: Minister for International Development Baroness Chapman of Darlington will give evidence.

14:30: Home Affairs Committee – Combatting new forms of extremism: Former Counter-Extremism Commissioner Dame Sara Khan will give evidence first, followed at 15:30 by Security Minister Dan Jarvis MP and the Director of Homeland Security Strategy at the Home Office.

House of Lords

10:00: Industry and Regulators Committee – Regulators and growth: The CEO of the Food Standards Agency and the Information Commissioner will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Select Committees ↘

Details of Wednesday’s business can be found below.

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Wales Office Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include clean energy, funding for railways, cross-border livestock movements, minority language broadcasting, the cost of living, cross-border health services, family farms, the proposed visitor levy, and economic growth.

At 12:00, Sir Keir Starmer is set to face the Leader of the Opposition, Kemi Badenoch, at Prime Minister’s Questions.

At 12:30, any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Liberal Democrat MP Olly Glover will seek to introduce a Rail Passengers’ Charter Bill under the Ten Minute Rule which allows MPs to give a ten-minute speech in favour of a Bill before seeking the House’s permission to introduce it. The Bill would establish a Rail Passengers’ Charter, setting out certain guarantees and targets in relation to the provision of passenger rail services.

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill (Committee, Report and Third Reading): The House will debate the final stages of the Government’s legislation to implement a £2,000 annual cap on the amount of employee pension contributions made through salary sacrifice that are exempt from National Insurance (NICs), as announced in November’s Budget. (House of Commons Library briefing)

At Committee Stage – in this case, a Committee of the Whole House in which any MP can participate – MPs will consider whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made.

Under the terms of the programme order agreed at Second Reading, the debate on Committee Stage will end no later than four hours after it begins. At that point, the House will vote on any amendments selected by the Chair for separate decision, most likely including some of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat amendments.

Where a Committee of the Whole House has scrutinised a Bill and not made any amendments to it, no Report Stage takes place. Therefore, if no amendments are made, the House will move straight on to Third Reading.

In accordance with the programme order, the Third Reading debate will come to an end no later than one hour after the conclusion of debate in Committee. Divisions on amendments will take up most – if not all – of that one-hour period, so the Third Reading debate will be very short.

Once the Bill receives a Third Reading, it will be sent to the House of Lords to complete all its stages there.

Northern Ireland Troubles Remedial Order: The House will debate the draft Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2025, which repeals a number of provisions of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 – the ‘Legacy Act’ – which provided for Troubles-related immunity from prosecution and civil claims. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Under the 1998 Human Rights Act, where a court declares that a legislative provision is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Government may make a ‘Remedial Order’ – a form of Statutory Instrument – to amend the legislation and bring it into compliance with the ECHR. Remedial Orders are subject to a bespoke parliamentary procedure. First, a proposal for the Remedial Order is laid before Parliament for 60 days, during which the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) publishes a report (see the JCHR’s report on the proposal for this Order). After this initial scrutiny period, the final draft Remedial Order – possibly with amendments – is laid. The draft Remedial Order is then subject to a further 60 days of scrutiny, during which it is considered by the JCHR once again (see the JCHR’s second report here).

The final draft Remedial Order relating to the Legacy Act was laid before the House on 14 October 2025, the same day that the new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill was presented to Parliament. That Bill makes some further provision in relation to the handling of Troubles-related investigations.

The Government’s approach is to use the Remedial Order to repeal any provisions that it does not intend to replace, while using the Bill to replace or restate text from the previous Legacy Act. In particular, the Remedial Order would remove all Legacy Act provisions relating to immunity from prosecution and would enable all civil proceedings previously prohibited by the Legacy Act – including future cases not yet initiated – to proceed. The provisions included in the Bill were outlined in a recent edition of the Bulletin.

The second 60-day scrutiny period having expired, the Government is now seeking the approval of both Houses for the draft Order. Once both Houses have approved the draft Order, the Government can make it into law.

The House’s Standing Orders impose a strict time limit on debates on Statutory Instruments, including Remedial Orders, of no more than 90 minutes.

Adjournment: Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse will give a speech on anti-social behaviour on canals and rivers in Bath. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: The animal welfare strategy for England

11:00: Dementia support in Hampshire

14:30: The potential merits of referendums on local government re-organisation (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: The UK wine industry

16:30: Government support for waste collection in Birmingham and the West Midlands

Delegated Legislation Committees

14:30: The draft Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2026

16:30: The draft Medical Devices (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2026

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 15:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the condition, maintenance and resilience of Great Western Railway, following last week’s flooding and extreme weather; the age of criminal responsibility; and implementation of the violence against women and girls strategy. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 19 January.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Report, day 3): Today is the third of five days currently allocated to the Report Stage of the Government’s Bill to reform schools and children’s social care.

At Report Stage, the whole House decides whether any amendments should be made, or new clauses added, to the Bill. The House will continue to debate groups of amendments starting from the point that the House reached at Monday’s sitting.

Sentencing Bill and Holocaust Memorial Bill (Consideration of Commons amendment and/or reasons): Peers are expected to consider messages from the House of Commons on both Bills, although the precise timing remains uncertain and will depend on the outcome of MPs’ consideration of Lords amendments yesterday (Tuesday 20 January). It is anticipated that scrutiny of the Commons response on the Sentencing Bill will begin before the debate on the Children’s Bill. Consideration of the Holocaust Memorial Bill amendments is then likely to take place in a short “dinner break” slot, after which scrutiny of the Children’s Bill would resume.

Grand Committee

From 16:15, there will be debates on three draft Statutory Instruments:

• the Local Government (Exclusion of Non-commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026;

• the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (Application to Immigration Officers and Designated Customs Officials in Northern Ireland) and Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026; and

• the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles Glue Traps) Regulations 2026.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

14:15: Treasury Committee – The CEO and other senior officials from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will give evidence on the work of the regulator.

14:15: Health and Social Care Committee – The Chief Executive and Registrar of the General Medical Council (GMC) will give evidence on their work, including the regulation of physician associates.

14:45: Procedure Committee – The sub judice resolution in the House of Commons: Attorney General Lord Hermer KC will give evidence.

House of Lords

14:30: European Affairs Committee – Home Office Minister Lord Hanson of Flint will give evidence.

15:00: Built Environment Committee – New Towns: Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed MP will give evidence.

Joint

14:00: Joint Committee on Human Rights – Human rights of children in the social care system in England: Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza will give evidence.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Select Committees ↘

Questions and statements: At 09:30, Cabinet Office Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include emergency resilience, Erasmus+, relations with the EU, digital ID, Government transparency, cybercrime, insourcing, and the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Any Urgent Questions will follow.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Sir Alan Campbell MP, will present the weekly Business Statement, setting out the business in the House for the next couple of weeks and answering questions about anything that Members might want debated. Any Ministerial Statements will follow.

Select Committee statement: Bill Esterson MP, chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, will make a statement about the Government’s response – not yet published at the time of writing – to the Committee’s October report, Tackling the energy cost crisis.

Select Committees can ask the Backbench Business Committee for time to make statements on the launch of inquiries or the publication of a report. These statements are usually delivered in the Chamber during backbench business time on Thursdays. A statement consists of a 10-minute speech from a member of the Select Committee, during which interventions are not permitted, followed by 10 minutes of questions from MPs, to which the Select Committee member responds.

General debate on Government support for the fishing industry: This debate, which will last up to three hours, was chosen by the Backbench Business Committee following an application from Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael. In his application, Carmichael stated that a similar fishing debate in 2024 was very well subscribed and indicated that the coming year would be a particularly challenging year for fish stocks.

General debate on the impact of import standards on the agricultural sector: This debate, which will last until 17:00 at the latest, was chosen by the Backbench Business Committee following an application from Labour MP Sam Carling. In his application, Carling highlighted import standards on pesticides, battery farming, and sow stalls, and suggested that the debate would be particularly topical given the new trade deals the Government has been negotiating.

Adjournment: Conservative MP Dr Ben Spencer will give a speech on local government finances in Surrey. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

13:30: Transport connectivity in the Midlands and North Wales

15:00: International Day of Education

Public Bill Committees

11:30 and 14:00: Railways Bill (Committee, day 2): The Public Bill Committee will begin clause-by-clause scrutiny today, having taken oral evidence on Tuesday. It will begin by scrutinising the first clauses of the Bill (and relevant amendments) which relate to the creation of Great British Railways and its key functions. At Committee Stage, the Public Bill Committee must decide whether each clause and schedule should “stand part” of the Bill, and whether any amendments should be made.

↖ Contents · Skip to Friday’s Commons ↘

Introduction of new Peers: At 11:00, two new Labour Peers will be introduced to the House:

• Farmida Bi, the first female chair of a major law firm, Norton Rose Fulbright, and founder of Progressive British Muslims; and

• Richard Walker, the executive chairman of the Iceland supermarket chain.

Oral questions: Peers will question Ministers for 40 minutes, on preventing the manufacture, sale and use of number plates intended to defeat enforcement cameras; AI preparedness; and the appointment of the freelance champion for the creative industries. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 20 January.

Crime and Policing Bill (Committee, day 12): This is the twelfth of 14 days currently allocated for Committee Stage on the Government’s Bill to reform the criminal justice and policing system. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Committee Stage, the House examines the Bill clause-by-clause and decides whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. The House will continue its scrutiny of clauses and amendments from the point reached by the House at Tuesday’s sitting.

Because amendments that are voted on and defeated at Committee Stage cannot be moved again at Report Stage, many amendments tabled at Committee Stage are probing amendments, designed to test the opinion of the Government or the mood of the wider House, before deciding whether to put the amendment to a vote at Report Stage.

Today’s debate is only a half-day debate, so it is expected to conclude around half-way between the start of the debate at 11:45 and the typical rising time of 19:00.

General debate on the impact of Government policy on the retail and hospitality sector: The rest of the day will be spent on this debate, led by the Conservative Peer Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest. It is likely to focus on planned changes to business rates.

Grand Committee

13:00: Pension Schemes Bill (Committee, day 4): Today is the fourth of five days currently scheduled for Committee Stage, where Peers consider whether each clause should “stand part” of the Bill and whether any amendments should be made. The Committee will resume its scrutiny from the point where it concludes at the first sitting on Monday. (House of Lords Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Friday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Public Accounts Committee – The interim Chief Executive and other senior officials will give evidence on the work of Ofwat.

A full list of select committee hearings can be found on the What’s On section of the Parliament website.

↖ Contents · Skip to Looking ahead ↘

The House will not be sitting.

↖ Contents · Skip to Looking ahead ↘

Private Members’ Bills (PMBs): The House will meet at 10:00 to further consider non-Government Bills.

Licensing Hours Extension Bill (Third Reading): This Bill, which has been passed by the Commons, had no amendments to it tabled in the Lords, so is set for its final stage prior to becoming law. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Committee, day 7): This is the seventh day of Committee Stage for the Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. (House of Lords Library briefing)

At Committee Stage, the House must decide whether each clause and schedule should remain in the Bill, and whether any amendments should be made or new clauses and schedules added.

Amendments can be grouped and debated together to keep the discussion focussed and coherent and to avoid unnecessary repetition. To date, the Government Whips have organised the amendments into 84 groups, of which just 15 have been debated:

• First sitting (14 November 2025): 2 groups;

• Second sitting (21 November 2025): 1 group;

• Third sitting (5 December 2025): 3 groups;

• Fourth sitting (12 December 2025): 4 groups;

• Fifth sitting (9 January 2026): 2 groups;

• Sixth sitting (16 January 2026): 3 groups.

Eight further sitting Fridays have been scheduled for consideration of the Bill between now and April (today, 30 January, 6 and 27 February, 13, 20 and 27 March and 24 April.)

On Thursday 8 January, Lord Falconer of Thoroton moved a motion proposing that further time be provided for consideration of the Bill to enable the Bill to be returned to the House of Commons “in reasonable time before the end of the current parliamentary session”, which the House supported without a division. The Government subsequently clarified that as a result the House would now sit later into the day on the remaining Fridays assigned to the Bill. The normal rising time on a Friday is 15:00; the Government has suggested that the House instead sit until approximately 18:00, giving an extra three hours per day to the Bill. However, at the current pace, it remains doubtful that there will be sufficient time for the Bill to complete all its stages before the end of the session, even with the addition of three extra sitting hours per day.

A new marshalled list (a numbered list which sets out all the amendments to reflect their position in relation to where they apply to the Bill) will be published before today’s sitting starts (under the Amendment Paper section of the Publications tab on the Bill page on the parliamentary website). An updated list of the groups of amendments to be debated today may also be published and Lord Falconer will indicate how many of these groups he hopes will be debated today.

↖ Contents · Skip to Looking ahead ↘

Both Houses will resume at 14:30 on Monday 26 January 2026. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 25 January.

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