Introduction of a new Member: Following her election at last week’s Gorton and Denton by-election, Green Party MP Hannah Spencer is expected to be formally introduced to the House of Commons today. She must take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown or make a solemn Affirmation before she can participate in proceedings. The exact time of her introduction to the House has not been confirmed but it is now usual for any introductions to take place at the start of the day’s business.

Questions and statements: Shortly after 14:30, Education Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include education of service children, special education needs and disabilities provision, health research in higher education, the use of phones in schools, the student loan system, phonics attainment, free breakfast clubs, and financial education.

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. A Statement is expected on the weekend’s US and Israeli military strikes against Iran.

Presentation of bills: Conservative MP Rebecca Smith will present an Autonomous Maritime Vessels (Regulation) Bill regarding autonomous and submersible maritime vessels.

Representation of the People Bill (Second Reading): MPs have their first chance to debate the Government’s legislation to overhaul the conduct of elections. (House of Commons Library briefing)

At Second Reading, MPs debate the overall purpose and general principles of the Bill rather than its detailed wording.

The Bill’s key provisions include:

• voting age: Lowering the voting age to 16, thereby giving the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds, with young people able to register in advance from the age of 14;

• automatic registration: providing a legal power to run pilots of various forms of automatic voter registration, enabling voters to be added to the electoral register without making an application;

• candidate nominations: requiring candidates to provide proof of identity during the nomination process;

• candidate security: abolishing the requirement for candidates who are acting as their own election agent to publish their home address, and giving candidates the option to fill out a form with their contact details to be provided to police;

• security of election staff: expanding the offence of intimidation or abuse of candidates, campaigners or elected office holders to include election staff, and introducing a new statutory aggravating factor for sentencing;

• party endorsements: allowing political parties to withdraw their support for a candidate who has submitted their nomination papers until 48 hours before the close of nominations;

• voter ID: adding UK-issued credit and debit cards to the list of approved forms of voter ID, and improving the security of digital photo ID;

• election donation checks: requiring recipients of donations over £11,180 to carry out a risk assessment to judge the likelihood of foreign or illicit sources of funding;

• company donations: requiring companies making donations to demonstrate a genuine and substantive connection to the UK or Ireland to prevent the use of shell companies;

• unincorporated associations: lowering the threshold for when unincorporated associations must register with the Electoral Commission from £37,270 to £11,180, and the threshold for when they must report gifts from £11,180 to £2,230.

The Electoral Commission and the Association of Electoral Administrators have produced useful briefings on the contents of the Bill.

No amendments to the text of the Bill can be made at Second Reading. However, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sir James Cleverly MP, has tabled a reasoned amendment to the Second Reading motion. If passed, this would block the Bill while putting reasons for opposing it on the record.

The reasoned amendment invites MPs to decline to give the Bill a Second Reading because:

• reducing the voting age from 18 to 16 is inconsistent with and contradictory to other aspects of the Government’s position on ages of majority and citizenship;

• automatic voter registration will lead to less accurate electoral registers and open the door to fraud;

• the Bill has been drafted without proper engagement with political parties;

• the Rycroft review into foreign financial interference in UK politics has yet to report;

• the Bill does not include effective measures to tackle foreign interference from China and other hostile actors; and

• it would be preferable to proceed with a new Bill in the next Session of Parliament, following the report of the Rycroft review and proper consultation with political parties.

If the Bill is given a Second Reading, MPs will immediately consider a programme motion setting out how it will proceed. The motion proposes sending the Bill to a Public Bill Committee, which would be required to complete its scrutiny work by 23 April 2026.

In addition, the Secretary of State, Steve Reed MP, has tabled a carry-over motion. This would allow the Bill to continue into the next parliamentary Session if it has not completed its passage in the current one, which is expected to conclude in May. Neither motion is debatable.

Motions to approve without debate:

There are nine Statutory Instrument approval motions on the Order Paper, concerning regulations in the areas of devolution, international development, local government, social security immigration, merchant shipping and consumer protection.

The Government has further tabled a business motion to set aside the Standing Order relating to deferred divisions for the carry-over motion on the Representation of the People Bill and one of the nine Statutory Instruments – the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026, which relates to the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence in relation to its Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill (Scotland) Bill, as explained in a recent edition of the Bulletin.

Under Standing Order No. 41A, if a motion to approve a Statutory Instrument is put to the House after the moment on interruption – on Mondays, that time is 22:00 – then the division must be deferred until the subsequent Wednesday if any MP opposes it. This measure is intended to avoid divisions on Statutory Instruments taking place late in the evening. The Government’s decision to table the motion indicates that it anticipates possible opposition to the carry-over motion for the Bill and to the approval motion for this particular Order, though not to the other eight Statutory Instruments.

Adjournment: Labour MP Sam Carling will give a speech on safeguarding in small religious organisations. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

16:30: MPs will debate e-petition 734311, which calls for a law granting the public the right to trigger a vote of no confidence. The petition has around 121,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

18:00: MPs will debate e-petition 747234, which calls for the removal of the Secretary of State’s power to cancel any further forthcoming local elections. The petition has around 153,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committee

18:00: The draft National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026

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Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the Child Poverty Strategy; due diligence requirements for forest-risk commodities; the streaming and cinema sector and the impact of the bid by Netflix to acquire Warner Bros; and reducing violence against NHS staff.

Motions to approve Statutory Instruments: Ministers are expected to move approval motions for five Statutory Instruments, concerning the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the Energy-Intensive Industry Electricity Support Payments and Levy, the Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance Up-rating, and National Insurance Contributions. These Instruments were all debated by Peers in Grand Committee on 25 February.

Motion for marshalling of amendments to the Victims and Courts Bill: Justice Minister, Baroness Levitt, will move a motion to set out the order in which proposed amendments to the Bill will be considered at Report Stage which is due to commence on the 10 March.

Crime and Policing Bill (Report, day 2 of 6): This Government Bill seeks to reform the law relating to anti-social behaviour, crime, policing, public order, and national security. (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 focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments.

The next clauses and amendments to be debated, including a number of Government amendments making significant changes to an already very large bill, are:

• child sex abuse images: non-Government amendments to require AI models to risk-assess how their services could be used to create child sex abuse images, and to require mandatory software on smartphones or other devices to prevent the creation or distribution of such images;

• new child sex offences: Government amendments to introduce three new specific sexual offences committed against children under 16;

• duty to report suspected child sex offences: non-Government amendments to apply the duty to the management of a relevant setting even if they are not in day-to-day contact with children, to convert the duty into one subject to a criminal offence, to extend the scope of the duty to other activities and settings, and to list the settings in which the duty applies on the face of the Bill, plus a Government amendment requiring the production of guidance on the duty to report;

• personal injury claims in relation to child sex abuse: a Government amendment to remove a provision requiring the courts to dismiss personal injury claims in respect of child sex abuse if there would be “substantial prejudice” to a defendant;

• defaced images: A Government amendment to create a new offence of sharing a semen-defaced image, in response to concerns raised by Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge during Committee;

• enforcement against non-consensual intimate images: amendments from Baroness Owen requiring courts to make orders to destroy or delete any non-consensual intimate images where a person is convicted of an offence relating to those images, and requiring regulations to specify the mandatory removal of non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of being reported – reports in the press indicate that the Government intends to table its own amendments on this matter;

• intimate images supplied temporarily: a Government amendment to create a new offence of creating a copy or screenshot of an intimate image that has been shared temporarily;

• nudification tools: a Government amendment to ban ‘nudification’ tools, irrespective of whether they are used to generate consensual or non-consensual intimate images;

• extreme pornography: a Government amendment to criminalise pornography that purports to depict sexual relations between persons who are related.

Ministerial Statement – The draft text of the UK–EU Treaty on Gibraltar: Debate on the Crime and Policing Bill will be interrupted for a short period for what is known as ‘dinner-break business’, to enable Foreign Office Minister Baroness Chapman of Darlington to make a statement on the publication of the treaty. It is expected that this will mirror the statement made in the House of Commons last Thursday (26 February).

Grand Committee: From 15:45, Peers will debate seven Statutory Instruments, in four groups:

• the draft Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026;

• the draft Mesothelioma Lump Sum Payments (Conditions and Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2026; and the draft Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• the draft Armed Forces Commissioner (Family Definition and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026;

• the draft Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026; the draft Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Parental Order Cases) (Amendment) Regulations 2026; and the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Adoptions from Overseas) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

15:30: Public Accounts Committee – The Bank of England’s Real-Time Gross Settlement Renewal Programme: Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden and other senior Bank of England officials will give evidence.

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

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↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Select Committees ↘

Questions and statements: At 11:30, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and other Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include Ukraine, settlements in the West Bank, Sudan, US tariffs, Hong Kong, the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, healthcare in Afghanistan, financial transparency in overseas territories, Gaza, protests in Iran, consular support for British nationals overseas, and immigration crime.

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

Spring Forecast Statement: The Chancellor will make a statement to the House of Commons outlining the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Spring forecast and the Government’s response to it. The Government announced in its 2024 Budget that it would hold only one major fiscal event per year, so today’s Statement is not expected to include any tax or spending announcements. (House of Commons Library briefing)

The OBR forecast will set out its assessments of the economy and public finances. However, in accordance with the change announced at the last Budget, the OBR’s forecast will not include an assessment of whether the Government is on course to meet its ‘fiscal rules’. That assessment will now be published only once per financial year, at the Budget. However, as an OBR member told a select committee recently, “There will not be a formal assessment of whether or not the Government are meeting their targets, but the numbers will be there.”

The Shadow Chancellor, Mel Stride MP, will respond to the Statement. Since it is a Statement rather than debate, MPs will not be able to make speeches, only to ask questions of the Chancellor. The length of questioning is at the Speaker’s discretion but, for a major Statement of this kind, it would normally be expected that he allows a generous amount of time.

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Labour MP Mike Reader will seek to introduce a Geotechnical Data 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 collection and secure sharing of geotechnical data derived from ground and site investigations and would require the integration of that data into the National Underground Asset Register. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill (Consideration of Lords Amendments): This Government Bill, which has now passed through both Houses, is returning to the Commons so that MPs can consider the amendments made by the Lords. The Government suffered no defeats during the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, but it did insert some amendments of its own. The Commons must now formally agree those changes, which are unlikely to provoke opposition from MPs. Once the Commons has agreed them, the Bill can be sent for Royal Assent.

Presentation of Public Petitions: Labour MP Peter Dowd will present a public petition, on the A5036 Park Lane footbridge.

Adjournment: Liberal Democrat MP Chris Coghlan will give a speech on local authorities and SEND provision. A Minister will then give a response. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Westminster Hall

09:30: Strengthening community cohesion (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: The experience of cancer patients with accident and emergency services at North Middlesex Hospital (House of Commons Library briefing)

14:30: The small charity sector (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Government support for environmental health inspections of funeral premises (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:30: Environmental protections and biodiversity trends (House of Commons Library briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committees

09:25: The draft Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2026

14:30: The draft Electricity Supplier Payments (Amendment) Regulations 2026

16:30: The draft Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2026

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Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on delivery of Carbon Budget 6; the Defence Industrial Strategy; the competitiveness of British farming; and plans for the assisted dying legislation passed by the Isle of Man Tynwald and by the Jersey States Assembly to receive Royal Assent in a timely fashion.

Motions on appointment to Committees: Three motions will be moved by the Senior Deputy Speaker to make new appointments to the panel of members to act as Deputy Chairmen of Committees, the Select Committee reviewing the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and the Human Rights Committee.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Report, day 2 of 3): This Government Bill seeks to reform the law relating to the regulation of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. (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 focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments.

The next clauses and amendments to be debated relate to:

• retail licensing regime: non-Government amendments to delay the new retail licensing regime for tobacco and nicotine products, to introduce transitional provisions to protect existing retailers, and to establish a licensing portal and national register of retailers – Government amendments have also been tabled to improve the drafting and operation of these provisions;

• enforcement: non-Government amendments to ensure the proceeds of fixed penalties go towards local smoking cessation services;

• Northern Ireland: non-Government amendments to regulations being made unless the Government is satisfied that it can make the same provision in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, and to assert the primacy of regulations under this Bill over relevant EU regulations;

• reviews and reports: non-Government amendments requiring the Government to product a report on progress towards the smoke-free target, on existing research on health and tobacco regulation, and on the Act’s impact on the UK economy – the Government has tabled its own amendment to require a review of the Act after it has been in effect for at least four years.

Grand Committee: From 15:45, Peers will debate two Statutory Instruments:

• Immigration and nationality: Peers will debate the draft Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2026. Once the Order has been debated, it will require formal approval from the House on a subsequent day.

• Rent officers: Peers will debate a motion to ‘take note’ of the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026. This instrument is subject to the negative procedure, so it is already on the statute book and does not require debate or formal approval from the House. A ‘take note’ motion allows Peers to secure a debate on a negative instrument without blocking it.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:15: Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill – Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton, author of the Reserve Forces Review 2030, will give evidence alongside Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope, military adviser to the Haythornwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation. They will be followed by a second panel of military and academic experts from the Reserves External Scrutiny Team. Retired General Sir Richard Barrons, an external reviewer of the Strategic Defence Review, will complete the morning’s evidence.

10:00: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee – The Permanent Secretary and other senior officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will give evidence on the work of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies.

10:00: Culture, Media and Sport Committee – Children’s TV and video content: The BBC’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Head of Commissioning and Acquisitions, and Director of Children’s and Education will all give evidence.

10:00: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – The Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office, Cat Little, the Acting Director General of Propriety and Ethics, Ellen Atkinson, and other senior officials will give evidence on the Cabinet Office’s work. The Committee has indicated that questioning may focus on the release of papers related to Lord Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, problems with the delivery of civil service pensions following transfer of the system to Capita, and the processing of claims by the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.

10:30: Defence Committee – Defence in the High North: Academic experts from Loughborough University, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the University of St Andrews will give evidence. The Committee has indicated that questions are likely to focus on US policy towards Greenland, advances in Russian and Chinese capabilities and military technology, the UK’s leadership of the Joint Expeditionary Force, and the scope for co-operation with Canada and Norway on defence.

14:30: Home Affairs Committee – Harnessing the potential of new digital forms of identification: Home Office Minster for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp MP will give evidence alongside officials. Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons MP had been scheduled to appear but resigned from the Government on Saturday.

House of Lords

14:00: Science and Technology Committee – Secretary of State Liz Kendall MP and Minister of State Lord Vallance of Balham will give evidence on their work.

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

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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 economic growth, family farms, child poverty, the cost of living, mental health services, UK–EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreements, and clean energy.

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: Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi will seek to introduce a Police (Declaration) 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 require police officers to declare a membership of or affiliation to certain types of organisation. Antoniazzi brought in a bill of the same title in a previous session.

Estimates Day (Debates on Supplementary Estimates relating to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Ministry of Defence; and Department for Business and Trade): Estimates are the Government’s departmental spending plans, which are presented to Parliament for approval every year. The Government makes requests to Parliament for funds for departments in at least two and sometimes as many four stages throughout the year in what is known as the ‘Estimates Cycle’. See our Hansard Society guide to the Estimates process for more information about the parliamentary procedure for scrutinising and approving Government spending plans.

In June last year, the House of Commons agreed the Main Estimates for 2025-26. These set out the Government’s annual spending plans for each department, including their agencies and arm’s length bodies.

Today MPs will be asked to approve the Supplementary Estimates, which are the Government’s additional requests to Parliament to authorise new or amended funding, or to authorise changes to the purpose for which money is sought. These are typically debated in February, towards the end of the financial year, to reflect any changes in expected departmental spending.

The House of Commons Library briefing contains more detail about the specific departmental Estimates the House is voting on today. The Library notes that the changes in the Supplementary Estimates are “significant by historical standards”. The largest single change is a £19 billion increase in spending resulting from a reduction in the value of the student loan book, though this increase has no cash impact on the Department for Education. The House of Commons Library has produced a useful interactive dashboard showing, for each department, the trends in spending over recent years, how spending has changed since the Main Estimates were presented to Parliament, and how the spending is broken down between different areas.

Once presented to Parliament, the Supplementary Estimates may be scrutinised by the relevant departmental select committees. MPs then debate them in the Chamber during allotted “Estimates Days”. There is not time to debate every department’s spending plan, so the Backbench Business Committee considers bids from backbench MPs, including select committee members, to determine which departmental Estimates will be debated.

The Backbench Business Committee received seven bids from Select Committees for debating time and has recommended three, covering the Supplementary Estimates for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Ministry of Defence, and Department for Business and Trade:

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO): The most significant change in FCDO expenditure arises as a result of a further reduction in Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). In her application to the Backbench Business Committee, Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry warned: “while the world is on fire, we are seeing in the Foreign Office the biggest cuts of any Government Department overall. Even if we park ODA, they are the biggest cuts. I believe there are between 15% and 25% cuts in staff happening. …to be cutting back on staff in this way that we are, without being clear about the strategy, is alarming.” The chairs of the International Development Select Committee and the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy were unsuccessful in securing an Estimates Day debate. However, it is expected that their concerns will be incorporated in this debate on the FCDO Estimate. (House of Commons Library briefing)

• Ministry of Defence: Ministers are seeking parliamentary approval for £9 billion attributed to a ‘non-routine accounting adjustment’ relating to depreciation and impairment. However, no detailed explanation of this adjustment has been provided. In his application to the Backbench Business Committee, Defence Committee chair Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi described the figure as “mind-boggling” and called for it to be debated on the floor of the House to enable proper parliamentary scrutiny and ministerial accountability. He also raised concerns about the need to debate Defence Votes A – the Estimate covering personnel numbers for defence services – particularly in light of growing unease about the size of the UK’s armed forces. (House of Commons Library briefing)

• Department for Business and Trade: This department is seeking the largest increase in day-to-day spending of any department. However, in his application to the Backbench Business Committee, Business and Trade Committee chair Liam Byrne MP made clear that he and his Committee are concerned about a lack of clarity about whether the funding is being spent on the right things. A substantial portion of the new funding is earmarked for the steel industry, yet Mr Byrne noted that no national steel strategy has been published. Significant further sums are earmarked for the Post Office compensation schemes, with no clear timetable for resolving the long-running scandal. Mr Byrne also said he wanted clarity on when the Government would seek a financial contribution from Fujitsu, the IT company responsible for the Horizon computer system at the centre of the scandal, towards the cost of the compensation schemes. (House of Commons Library briefing)

MPs may propose amendments to these three Supplementary Estimates. However, under Standing Order No. 48 amendments may only propose a reduction in spending, not an increase. This reflects the long-established constitutional principle that only the Crown (i.e., Ministers) may initiate public expenditure. The rule dates back to an Order of the House of Commons of 11 June 1713 which declared, “That this House will receive no Petition for any sum of money relating to public service but what is recommended from the Crown.” This resolution entrenched the Government’s sole right of financial initiative in Parliament. It was intended, in part, to curb ‘pork barrel’ politics by preventing MPs from seeking public funds for local constituency expenditure with little or no regard for the overall state of the nation’s finances.

At 19:00, MPs will be asked to agree the dozens of remaining Supplementary Estimates. These are not debated and are put to the House in a single non-amendable ‘roll-up’ motion. All the Supply resolutions are then given legal effect in a Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill which will have its Second and Third Reading tomorrow. Only when this Bill receives Royal Assent can the government departments draw down the additional funds they requested in their Supplementary Estimate.

Adjournment: Labour MP Perran Moon will give a speech on St Piran’s Day. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: NHS capital spending (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: Work Capability Assessment timescales

14:30: Government policy on NATO and the High Arctic (House of Commons Library)

16:00: Scotland’s contribution to energy security and net zero (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:30: Healthcare in rural areas (House of Commons Library briefing / Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POST Research briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committees

14:30: The draft Climate Change Levy (Fuel Use and Recycling Processes) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

16:30: The draft Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026

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Oral questions: At 15:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on local government reorganisation in England; proposals for the appointment of a Maternity Commissioner; and democracy in Taiwan. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 2 March.

Crime and Policing Bill (Report, day 3 of 6): This Government Bill seeks to reform the law relating to anti-social behaviour, crime, policing, public order, and national security. (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 focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments.

The House will continue its scrutiny of clauses and amendments resuming from the point that the Committee reached at Monday’s sitting. It is possible that the House will not make it through all the topics outlined in Monday’s section above, so some of the items listed toward the end may instead be discussed today. Otherwise, topics likely to be considered today include: prostitution-related offences, the provision of gender recognition certificates to sex offenders, Government amendments to apply the civil standard of proof for stalking protection orders, and offences of encouraging or assisting self-harm.

Grand Committee

At 16:15, Peers will debate the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of India. This reflects the previous Government’s commitment in 2020 to accommodate requests for debates from the Lords select committee responsible for scrutinising free trade agreements (FTAs). (House of Lords Library briefing)

Two parliamentary committees are charged with scrutinising FTAs laid before Parliament: the House of Lords International Agreements Committee (IAC) and the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee (BTC). Both have published reports on the Agreement (BTC report and IAC report).

In its report, the IAC welcomed the Agreement and drew it to the special attention of the House of Lords on the grounds that it is politically important and gives rise to issues of public policy.

Under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, international agreements – including FTAs – cannot be ratified (that is, brought into force) until they have been laid before Parliament. Once an agreement has been laid, either House may resolve within 21 sitting days that the agreement should not be ratified. The Agreement signed by the UK and India in July 2025 was formally laid before Parliament on 21 January 2026. The 21-sitting day scrutiny period is due to expire today, after which the Government will be able to proceed to ratification.

If only the House of Lords objects to the Treaty, the Government may still proceed by laying a statement before Parliament. If the House of Commons resolves against ratification, the Government cannot ratify the agreement for a further 21 sitting days, during which time the House of Commons may again resolve against it, providing the Commons with a power of indefinite delay, though tightly constrained by Government control of parliamentary time. However, the Government granted only a general debate on this treaty in the Commons, so MPs were not given the opportunity to decide on ratification when they debated the treaty on 9 February 2026. Though the Commons Business and Trade Committee supported ratification, it criticised the Government’s decision to grant only a general debate. Today’s debate in the Lords is similarly only on a neutral motion, though no Peer has tabled a motion opposing the Treaty.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:15: Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill – Former MP and Defence Minister Sarah Atherton, former MP and Defence Housing Strategy Review chair Natalie Elphicke Ross, and representatives of armed forces families will give evidence.

09:30: Work and Pensions Committee – Carer’s benefits beyond the Sayce Review: Chair of the independent review of the Carer’s Allowance Liz Sayce will give evidence, followed by representatives of and experts in the care sector.

09:30: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee – Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP and junior Northern Ireland Office Minister Matthew Patrick MP will give evidence on their work.

15:00: Energy Security and Net Zero Committee – The cost of energy: The Chief Executives of Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) will give evidence.

House of Lords

10:45: Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee – Strengthening Northern Ireland’s voice in the context of the Windsor Framework: Representatives from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Ulster Farmers’ Union, and the Federation of Small Business Northern Ireland 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 the Official History Programme, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, UK–EU relations, standards in Government, intergovernmental relations, the Office for the Impact Economy, civil service visa sponsorship, Government procurement, digital ID, personal protective equipment, and the location of civil service staff.

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.

Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) Bill (Second and Third Reading): This Bill will provide formal statutory authority for the Supplementary Estimates agreed on Wednesday. Only once the Bill receives Royal Assent will the spending set out in the Estimates, and approved by Parliament, have legal effect.

The Bill is founded upon financial resolutions – namely, the Estimates motions agreed yesterday – and is not formally introduced or published until those resolutions are agreed. Since these have already been debated, Standing Order No. 56 provides that the questions on Second and Third Reading be put forthwith; that is, without debate or amendment.

The Bill will be certified as a Money Bill by the Speaker. This means that when the Bill goes to the House of Lords, it will not be subject to amendment, and will be fast-tracked through the House without a Committee or Report Stage. Our Hansard Society guide to Money Bills explains how certification works.

General debate on contributions of Commonwealth troops in the First World War: The topic of this debate was chosen by the Backbench Business Committee following an application from Labour MPs Jas Athwal and Gurinder Singh Josan. Notably, their application was made in June 2025, eight months ago, underlining the significant backlog of bids awaiting debate time. In their application, they argued that the debate “would be a great way to honour the 3 million soldiers from across the British Empire who contributed to both the World Wars, and to commemorate the biggest volunteer army that the world has ever seen.” (House of Commons Library briefing)

Debate on a motion relating to the future of palliative care: The House will debate a motion to note the findings of the Independent Palliative Care Commission and call on the Government to implement its recommendations, including an accessible and properly funded palliative care service and a new commissioning framework. The motion also calls for greater focus on workforce planning and training and the empowerment of patients through future care plans. (House of Commons Library briefing)

The motion was chosen by the Backbench Business Committee following an application from Labour MP Rachael Maskell back in July 2025. In her application, Maskell highlighted the context of the ongoing assisted dying debate and the 10-year NHS plan, and indicated that 63 MPs from various parties had supported her application.

Adjournment: Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare will give a speech on endometriosis, fibroids, and the Women’s Health Strategy. A Minister will then give a response. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Westminster Hall

13:30: The contribution of local museums (House of Commons Library briefing)

15:00: World Book Day (House of Commons Library briefing)

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Oral questions: At 11:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“forever chemicals”); class inequality in the arts; and the Access to Work fund. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 3 March.

Business of the House motion: The Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, will move a motion to dispense with Standing Order 44 on Thursday 12 March. That Standing Order normally prevents two stages of a Bill from being taken on the same day. If agreed, the motion would allow both the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill and the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill to complete their remaining stages in the House of Lords on 12 March.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Report, day 3 of 3): This Government Bill seeks to reform the law relating to the regulation of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products. (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 focused debate. It is at Report Stage that the Government is most frequently defeated on amendments.

The House will resume its scrutiny of clauses and amendments starting from the point that the Committee reached at Tuesday’s sitting. It is possible that the House will not make it through all the topics outlined in Tuesday’s section, so some of those listed towards the end may be discussed today. Otherwise, the topics likely to be discussed today include:

the packaging of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products; the technological features of tobacco devices and vaping products; offences relating to the advertisement of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products; and the designation of smoke-free places.

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pension Contributions) Bill (Report, day 1 of 1): This Government Bill will implement a £2,000 annual cap on the amount of employee pension contributions made through salary sacrifice that are exempt from National Insurance Contributions (NICs), as announced in last November’s Budget. (House of Lords Library briefing)

While most of the Budget tax changes are included the Finance Bill, changes to NICs require separate legislation. Unlike the Finance Bill, this Bill has not been certified as a Money Bill – that is, a Bill dealing exclusively with taxation and public expenditure. This is because National Insurance contributions are legally structured as contributions towards specified benefits paid out of the National Insurance Fund, rather than as general taxation contributing to overall Government revenue. The key procedural consequence is that the House of Lords can amend this Bill. As a result, its Committee and Report Stages in the Lords are proceeding in the usual way, whereas the Finance Bill will not have a Committee or Report Stage in the House of Lords.

Though the Bill is only around three pages long, 23 amendments have been tabled so far. These amendments, and any others tabled in advance of the sitting, will be arranged into groups, each of which will then be debated in order.

Key amendment proposals would:

• exempt basic rate taxpayers (limiting the cap to higher and additional rate taxpayers);

• allow carry-forward of unused allowances (to limit the impact on those with fluctuating incomes);

• ensure the cap applies to each employment a person has;

• prevent excess contributions counting as income for the purposes of student loan repayments;

• require the cap to be uprated by inflation until 2029-30;

• exempt small businesses and charities;

• require various reviews of the Bill’s impact; and

• require a period of six months between the making of regulations under the Bill and their coming into force.

Grand Committee

13:00: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Committee, day 8 of 8): Today the House is expected to conclude the Committee Stage consideration of this Bill. The final clauses and amendments to be debated relate to statutory trusts over former open space or recreation land; the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles, including with respect to accessibility; planning permission for gambling premises; Local Area Energy Plans; requirements on local authorities to produce a social media strategy; the proposed new Local Audit Office; rent review provisions; and various amendments relating to review and commencement of the Bill. (House of Lords Library briefing)

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Public Accounts Committee – The Ministry of Defence’s tackling of economic crime and misconduct: The Permanent Secretary and other senior MoD officials will give evidence.

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

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The House will not be sitting.

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General debate on International Women’s Day: From 10:00, the Government will lead a debate on International Women’s Day which is marked annually on 8 March. This year the United Nations has chosen the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls.” (House of Lords Library briefing)

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Both Houses will resume at 14:30 on Monday 9 March 2026. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 8 March.

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