Questions and statements: At 14:30, Housing, Communities and Local Government Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions, including questions on social housing, planning reform, and reducing homelessness. Twelve of the 25 questions listed on the Order Paper are duplicates, hinting at potential coordination by party Whips or the Minister’s Parliamentary Private Secretary – an approach highlighted in previous Bulletins.

Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Main business: General Debate on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report. This report, which was published in September, found that the fire was the “culmination of decades of failure by central government and other bodies in positions of responsibility in the construction industry”. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, made a statement and took questions about the report in the Chamber on 4 September 2024. The House of Commons has already had an opportunity to debate the wider issue of building safety in a General Debate on 11 September. This debate offers a chance for MPs to focus more narrowly on the findings of the report, which the House of Lords considered in a debate focused specifically on the Phase 2 Report on 22 November.

Select Committee appointments: More MPs have been nominated to two joint committees (select committees made up of members of both Houses):

• One new member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

• Eight new members of the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Dr Zubir Ahmed has the adjournment debate on medical aid during conflict. Prior to his election to Parliament in July, Dr Ahmed was a transplant and vascular surgeon in Glasgow. He is also Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting MP.

Westminster Hall: There is one debate in Westminster Hall today, on two e-petitions relating to children and bereavement, both of which have secured over 11,000 signatures. The subject of this debate was determined by the Petitions Committee and will be led by Kevin Bonavia MP, a member of the Committee. The petitions call on the Government to record the number of dependent children in a household when the death of a parent is registered, to ensure services can better plan and reach out to families to offer support. The Government has already published a short response to the petition after it secured the requisite 10,000 signatures but a Minister will now have to respond in more detail in the debate.

Questions: The week begins with four oral questions on the progress Great British Nuclear has made to deploy small modular and advanced reactors; the consultation process for the NHS 10 Year Plan; whether an equality impact assessment has been conducted following a recent court judgment concerning humanist marriages; and steps to improve food security.

Main business: Football Governance Bill (Committee Stage, Day 2). There are currently 82 pages of amendments on the marshalled list for consideration in Committee. Much of the debate may centre around efforts to define the concept of “the sustainability of English football”. The first Committee session lasted nearly three and a half hours and made progress with just six amendments. Unsurprisingly, it is expected that the Committee stage for this Bill may be protracted.

Grand Committee: the House will consider five Statutory Instruments (SIs). One of them is the Road Transport (International Passenger Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 which was drawn to the attention of the House by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee as an “Instrument of Interest”. This draft Instrument concerns UK-EU market access arrangements for bus and coach operators that run international services. One consequence of the Regulations will be a levelling of the playing field between the UK and EU: since Brexit, UK operators have been unable to provide cabotage services (transport of goods or passengers) in the EU; but EU operators have been able to provide cabotage services in the UK. This Instrument will remove that right: EU operators will no longer be permitted to run services which start and end within Great Britain.

KEEP UP WITH LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY CHANGES Our Statutory Instrument Tracker® is a powerful online tool that delivers daily updates on Statutory Instruments (SIs), including consultations and every stage of an SIs journey through Parliament. With the SI Tracker®, you can customise alerts to fit your specific policy interests and compliance priorities. Subscribing to our SI Tracker® app helps you save time and reduce risk, keeping you fully informed about the latest legislative developments so you can respond swiftly to new statutory requirements and policy changes.

Highlights include:

• House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (15:30): The Committee will take oral evidence from the Permanent Secretary and other senior officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government about tackling homelessness. This follows a National Audit Office report published in July which concluded that “dealing with homelessness is creating unsustainable financial pressure for some local authorities” and that the situation “has worsened since [it] last examined the issue in 2017”.

Questions and statements: At 11:30, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and other Treasury Ministers will face questions from MPs. Questions concern long-term investment, business rates for high street retail, living standards, and the rise in National Insurance contributions. Ten of the 25 questions on the Order Paper are duplicates of at least one other. Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

Ten-Minute Rule Motion: The Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney will present a Ten-Minute Rule Bill titled the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill. The Bill would introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary and local elections in England. See our procedural guide for more information about the parliamentary process for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Main business: National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill (Second Reading). This Bill implements the policy announced in the Budget in October to raise the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and lower the income threshold at which employer NICs are paid. While most of the tax changes introduced in the Budget will be enacted through the Finance Bill, changes in NICs require separate legislation. The Finance Bill makes provision for spending and expenditure for central government as a whole, not for particular items or purposes. But the money raised by NICs is allocated specifically to the National Insurance Fund, which disburses it primarily for contributory benefits; the money in the Fund cannot be spent for wider Government purposes. Hence the need for separate legislation.

To date, one ‘reasoned amendment’ - a way of declining to give the Bill a Second Reading but setting out reasons for doing so - has been tabled, by the Liberal Democrats. This amendment criticises the Bill for introducing an “unfair jobs tax” that negatively affects people’s incomes and small businesses and risks worsening the NHS and social care crisis.

Adjournment: The Labour MP Debbie Abrahams has the adjournment debate on International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Westminster Hall: There are five Westminster Hall debates: on domestic production of critical minerals; leisure services in West Lancashire; family farming in Devon; freight crime; and the statutory framework for home-to-school transport for children with SEND.

Questions: The first 40 minutes of business will be dedicated to oral questions. One notable question of the four to be asked today is from Lord Harris of Haringey, who will ask the Minster what assessment has been made “of the recent severing of two fibre optic cables in the Baltic Sea and of the arrangements in place to protect undersea cables serving the United Kingdom.” It is alleged that a Chinese-flagged carrier deliberately severed the cables, and there are warnings of similar activity by Russian vessels. The threat is known as “grey warfare” and the risk is considerable given that undersea cables link data centres around the world and that key services such as the internet, banking and communications depend on them.

Main business: Great British Energy Bill (Committee Stage). This Bill would create a new publicly owned investment company which will have as its ‘objects’ facilitating, encouraging and participating in the production, distribution and storage of renewable energy. It has already been considered by the House of Commons.

The latest Committee-stage marshalled list contains 127 amendments. Many of these amendments seek to add new items to Great British Energy’s objects, including reducing the cost of energy, the production of nuclear energy, oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, increasing uptake of heat pumps, and increasing the use of energy schemes which are owned by community organisations, among others.

The House of Lords Constitution Committee published a report this week that drew attention to two powers in the Bill, which they say are an example of “disguised legislation”, whereby legislative provisions are in effect imposed through guidance and other non-legal documents that are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Clause 5 of the Bill requires the Secretary of State to publish a statement of strategic priorities for Great British Energy, which does not need approval by Parliament, and requires Great British Energy to ensure its strategic plans accord with this statement. Clause 6 allows the Secretary of State to issue directions to Great British Energy, which again do not require parliamentary approval. These clauses have ‘legislative’ effects because they impose requirements on Great British Energy; and both the statement and directions could include provisions that have a significant policy impact. Some of the amendments on the amendment paper may go some way to satisfy the Constitution Committee’s concerns, such as amendments 52 and 54 which would require some parliamentary oversight of the statement of strategic priorities.

Grand Committee: Data (Use and Access) Bill (Committee Stage). Eighty-four pages of amendments have been tabled to date. However, amendments proposed at Committee stage in the Lords are often ‘probing’ amendments designed to encourage debate and exploration of on an issue of concern. Amendments can only be approved in Grand Committee without a division (that is, unanimously), so the best chance for amending this Bill will come at the later Report stage.

The House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee has drawn attention to some inappropriate delegations of power in the Bill, repeating some of their concerns about the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI Bill) presented in the last Parliament, from which much of this Bill is drawn. The Bill awards a power to the Secretary of State to draw up rules concerning the provision of digital verification services, but these rules are not subject to parliamentary procedure. The Committee recommends that Parliament should actively approve these rules. One amendment in the name of Viscount Camrose proposes requiring the rules to be laid before Parliament.

A provision about which the DPRRC is particularly concerned - as it was with the DPDI Bill - is the power to add new interests to the list of “recognised legitimate interests” – one of the lawful grounds for processing data. This effectively allows the Secretary of State to create new data-processing grounds through regulations. The DPRRC recommended removing the power. Reflecting this criticism, Lord Clement-Jones has tabled amendments both to remove the power to add or vary the list, or to remove the new “recognised legitimate interests” provision altogether, which would thereby remove the regulation-making power.

House of Commons

• Committee on Standards (10:05): The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and two of his team will give evidence on the work of the Commissioner and his office. Questions may draw on the Commissioner’s last annual report and the work undertaken to support new MPs in understanding the rules regarding standards and their obligations to the House and the wider public to uphold them.

• Defence Committee (10:30): The Committee has a one-off evidence session on the Strategic Defence Review with the Lead Reviewer and former Secretary General of NATO, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen. The Strategic Defence Review was launched in July by the Prime Minister and undertook a call for evidence in September.

• Foreign Affairs Committee (14:00): The former EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process and former UK Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, will give evidence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• International Development Committee (14:00): The Committee will hear from representatives of NGOs about the situation for Israeli NGOs operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

• Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (14:30): The Committee will question the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle MP, about the work of his department.

• Justice Committee (14:30): The Committee will take evidence from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Questions may focus on the case backlog in the courts and wider justice system and trends in prosecution and conviction rates.

House of Lords

• Economic Affairs Committee (15:00): The Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern, will give evidence to the Committee about economic inactivity, welfare and long-term sickness.

A summary of Wednesday's business continues below!

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Scotland Office Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics to be covered include economic growth, veterans, and the green energy transition in Scotland. Eight of the 15 questions are duplicates of at least one other. Any Urgent Questions or Ministerial Statements will follow.

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

Ten-Minute Rule Motion: The Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill will present a Ten-Minute Rule Bill titled the Public Body Ethnicity Data (Inclusion of Jewish and Sikh Categories) Bill. The Bill would provide that, where a public body collects data about ethnicity for the purpose of delivering public services, it must include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories as options for a person’s ethnic group.

Main business: Opposition Day. The topic will be chosen by the Conservatives but is yet to be announced. Under Standing Order No. 14, 20 days each Session are allocated in the House of Commons for debates on subjects chosen by the two largest opposition parties: 17 days are allocated to the Conservatives as the Official Opposition; the remaining three are allocated to the Liberal Democrats. This is the fourth allotted Opposition Day this Session.

Adjournment: The Scottish National Party MP Dave Doogan has the adjournment debate on the end of the electricity meter Radio Teleswitch Service in rural areas.

Westminster Hall: There are five Westminster Hall debates: on biosecurity; Government support for the hospitality sector in Eastleigh; sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians; support for and identification of the children of prisoners; and the future of farming.

Questions: Themes covered today address measures to encourage entrepreneurs to establish businesses; and democratic control of the Shared Prosperity fund in Wales. There is also a question from former Education Secretary Lord Blunkett about steps the Government is taking to promote the attractiveness of the higher education sector, and the work being done to promote the sector internationally. Given the poor financial health of universities across the country, coupled with the vexed question of whether international students should be included in migration data, this might be an interesting question to keep an eye on for the Government’s response. A further topical question will be added when the ballot for this is run on Monday (2 December).

Main business: The Committee Stage of the Football Governance Bill is expected to continue. There will also be a short one-hour debate on the Government’s progress towards universal provision of fracture liaison services in England by 2030.

House of Commons

• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (10:00): Cat Little, Chief Operating Officer for the civil service and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, will give evidence on the work of the Cabinet Office.

• Transport Committee (10:15): The Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, and the head of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will give evidence on the availability of driving tests.

• Procedure Committee (15:15): The Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, will give evidence to the Committee. She may be asked about the work of the Modernisation Committee, and its relationship with the Procedure Committee’s work, as well as proxy voting by MPs, the Restoration and Renewal of Parliament, and the timetabling and scrutiny of the assisted dying Bill.

• Energy Security and Net Zero Committee (17:00): The Minister for Energy Consumers, Miatta Fahnbulleh, will give evidence on retrofitting homes for net zero.

House of Lords

• Constitution Committee (10:15): The former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill will give evidence on executive oversight and responsibility for the UK Constitution. The inquiry is exploring where ministerial responsibility for constitutional matters lies within the new Government.

Questions and statements: At 9:30, Cabinet Office Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, will face questions from MPs. Topics include public procurement, progress in achieving the Government’s ‘five missions’, and public services reform. Ten of the 22 questions are duplicates of at least one other question.

Any Urgent Questions will follow.

The Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, will then give her weekly Business Statement, setting out the business in the House for the coming week. Any other Ministerial Statements will follow.

Backbench Business: There are two backbench debates today, chosen by the Backbench Business Committee:

• a debate on a motion relating to detained British nationals abroad, to be proposed by Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP. The motion expresses concern about the number of arbitrarily detained British nationals abroad, the risk of human rights abuses and the lack of active support for those detained; and it calls on the Foreign Office to provide regular reports of when it last raised each of these cases. In his application to the Backbench Business Committee for this debate, Sir Iain noted that there are believed to be 100 British nationals being tortured or ill-treated abroad each year.

• a debate on improving public transport proposed by Sarah Dyke MP, who is particularly concerned about the state of public transport in the south-west of England given the location of her constituency.

Adjournment: The Independent MP and former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has the adjournment debate on the detention of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an Egyptian-British blogger and political activist imprisoned in Egypt.

Westminster Hall: There are two Westminster Hall debates: on pelvic mesh and the Cumberlege Review (the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review published in 2020); and on the financial sustainability of higher education.

Questions: Topics at today’s oral questions cover the Government’s plans to increase productivity in the UK; discussions with regional mayors about housebuilding targets; and whether any assessment has been made of the reasons for train crew shortages and the link to cancellation of services. A further topical question will be added when the ballot for this is run on Tuesday (3 December).

Main business:

• Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe will move a motion asking the House to take note of the need to increase housing supply and tackle homelessness.

• Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle will then lead a topical question for short debate (of up to an hour) about the scope of the review announced by the Government on 20 November into the physician and anaesthetist associate professional roles.

• A final ‘take note’ motion about the effect of retail crime on workers, the community and the economy will then be led by Lord Hannett of Everton, the former General Secretary of USDAW (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers). Data cited in a House of Lords Library Briefing suggests that the overall cost of retail crime between September 2022 and August 2023 was £3.3 billion.

Highlights include:

• The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (10:30): The Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP, will give evidence on electronic border management systems. This inquiry relates to the rollout of the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation – a new form of advance travel permission required from foreign nationals intending to visit or transit the UK – as well as the EU’s new electronic Entry/Exit System.

Private Members’ Bills (PMBs): There are nine Bills on the Order Paper, of which only the first is guaranteed to be debated before proceedings must be brought to a close at 2:30pm. Of the nine Bills, four are Ballot Bills, four are Presentation Bills and one is a Ten-Minute Rule Bill. Our guide to Private Members’ Bills explains the differences between these forms of legislation proposed by backbenchers.

• European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill - Jim Allister, representing Traditional Unionist Voice, came seventh in the PMB ballot and will propose a Bill to “modify the effect on domestic law of arrangements relating to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU”. Mr Allister is opposed to the operation of an international customs border, subject to EU regulations, operating between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. He wants to “restore sovereignty” to Northern Ireland and the UK by reverting to a land border on the island of Ireland with mutual enforcement and customs controls located at Centres away from the border.

The other Bills, which may not be debated, but could still pass Second Reading if they are unopposed, are:

• Controlled Drugs (Procedure for Specification) Bill - Alex McIntyre

• Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill - Linsey Farnsworth

• Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill - Dr Rupa Huq

• Educational Institutions (Mental Health Policy) Bill - Helen Maguire

• Vaccine Damage Payments Act (Review) Bill - Sir Christopher Chope

• NHS England (Alternative Treatment) Bill - Sir Christopher Chope

• Terminal Illness (Relief of Pain) Bill - Sir Edward Leigh (this is the Ten Minute Rule Bill that Sir Edward introduced on 20 November with a 10 minute speech in the Chamber, covered in the Bulletin for that day).

• Covid-19 Vaccine Damage Bill - Sir Christopher Chope

Adjournment: The Conservative MP for Salisbury, John Glen, has the adjournment debate on the future of the UK Health Security Agency site at Porton Down.

Main business: The Archbishop of York will lead a general debate on the importance of social cohesion and strong, supportive community life during periods of change and global uncertainty.

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