Questions and statements: At 14:30, Work and Pensions Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include Pension Credit for veterans, pension contributions, unemployment, foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit, young people not in work or education, WASPI compensation, child poverty, the rate of State Pension, hazardous medicinal products in the workplace, people with health conditions, and Personal Independence Payment.

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.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools 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 13 defeats in the Lords (summarised in a recent edition of the Bulletin), which the Government is now likely to seek to reverse or replace.

For each Lords amendment, the Commons can choose either to agree with the amendment, disagree with the amendment outright, or propose an alternative (known as an ‘amendment in lieu’).

The Government has tabled an amendment in lieu that would grant Ministers the power to introduce restrictions on children’s use of internet services, following its ongoing consultation on children’s wellbeing. This would give the Government a significant delegated power to legislate in this area, despite the Bill containing very little policy detail explaining how it would work. In practice, the power would allow Ministers to require providers of internet services to impose restrictions on any “specified internet service” for children under a “specified age”. This could extend far beyond social media. In theory, it would allow restrictions on any designated website or category of websites, as well as services such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or AI tools. The amendment provides no detail about the types of restrictions that could be imposed.

Restrictions would ultimately be decided by Ministers and implemented through a Statutory Instrument. This would mean that Parliament could not amend the Minster’s decision. Scrutiny would be limited to a short debate followed by a vote to either approve or reject the measure. The proposed provision therefore embodies two undesirable legislative practices. First, it introduces an extensive new power at the final stage of the Bill’s parliamentary passage, when opportunities for debate and amendment are already constrained. Secondly, when Ministers come to exercise that power, the resulting Statutory Instrument would itself be subject to limited scrutiny and could not be amended by Parliament.

The programme motion for today’s debate allows the debate to continue until 21:00 at the latest.

Motions for approval: MPs will be asked to approve two Statutory Instruments – in relation to the Climate Change Levy and the Data (Use and Access) Act – both of which were debated by MPs last week.

The House will then be asked to approve a Business of the House motion relating to consideration of the Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill. The Bill was presented on 5 March, and all its remaining Commons stages – Second Reading, Committee of the Whole House and Third Reading – are scheduled to take place on a single day, 17 March. The motion would allow MPs to give notice of amendments, new clauses and new schedules to the Clerks at the Table in advance of Second Reading. This is necessary because, given the compressed timetable, the usual intervals between stages – during which amendments may normally be tabled – will not be observed. For more information about Business of the House motions read the explainer written for us by a former Commons Clerk and Assistant Editor of Erskine May.

Adjournment: Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage will give a speech on reforming the regulation of funeral directors. A Minister will then give a response. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Westminster Hall

16:30: MPs were due to debate e-petition 751839, which calls for the cancellation of the clinical trial into puberty blockers. The petition has around 145,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing) However, the latest iteration of the Order Paper suggests that this debate has now been rescheduled for 23 March. The reason for the change of date has not been publicly confirmed. At the time of writing, no alternative business has been scheduled for this 16:30 debating slot.

18:00: MPs will debate e-petition 728677, which calls for the Government to provide funding so that all infants are offered Type 1 Diabetes testing in routine care. The petition has around 121,000 signatures. (House of Commons Library briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committee

18:00: The draft Procurement Act 2023 (Specified International Agreements and Saving Provision) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Conventionally, Statutory Instruments that are debated on a Monday are put to the House for a vote a day later, on Tuesday.

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the impact of tenancy reform on Stamp Duty liability; the Crown Estate in Wales; the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care; and the British Business Bank.

Motions to approve Statutory Instruments: The House will vote on motions to approve three Statutory Instruments that were debated in Grand Committee last Monday:

• the draft Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026;

• the draft Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Adoptions from Overseas) (Amendment) Regulations 2026; and

• the draft Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Parental Order Cases) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

Tobacco and Vapes Bill (Third Reading): At Third Reading, the House has a final opportunity to review the text of the Bill. Once the Bill has received a Third Reading, it will return to the House of Commons for MPs to consider the amendments made by the Lords. The Government itself tabled dozens of amendments, and also accepted several amendments from Conservative Peer Lord Moylan that would require parliamentary approval of regulations specifying the method of customer age verification for tobacco and nicotine products. As no amendments were made against the Government’s wishes, those accepted are unlikely to provoke further opposition in the Commons. Once MPs have formally agreed to the Lords amendments, the Bill will be sent for Royal Assent. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Crime and Policing Bill (Report, day 4 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. Topics likely to be considered today include:

• protest rights: non-Government amendments to introduce a statutory right to protest, create a defence of reasonable excuse to the offence of concealing identity at protests, clarify the threshold for imposing conditions on protests around places of worship, and remove provisions allowing police to take account of cumulative disruption across multiple protests;

• protection of memorials: non-Government amendments to broaden the kinds of memorials covered by the new offence of climbing on memorials;

• protests located at a person’s home: Government amendments to create a new offence of protesting outside a public office-holder’s home, where relevant public office-holders include Ministers, MPs, Peers, local councillors, mayors, Police and Crime Commissioners, devolved Ministers or assembly members, and candidates for any of the above positions, and to expand the scope of an existing offence of harassing an individual at their home;

• counter-extremism: non-Government amendments to allow Ministers to designate groups as Extreme Criminal Protest Groups, and to require the production of a counter-extremism strategy;

• live facial recognition: non-Government amendments to ensure police cannot use live facial recognition at protests until a new code of practice has been approved by both Houses, to prevent the use of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database for live facial recognition, and to limit the use of facial recognition to serious cases;

• unauthorised encampment: Government amendments to reduce the period after which a person may return to an unauthorised encampment;

• non-crime hate incidents: a Government amendment to repeal existing legislation that gives Ministers the power to issue a code of practice on non-crime hate incidents; and

• police fees for hauliers: a non-Government amendment to require the Government to establish a regulatory framework for the fees charged to hauliers by police forces for escorting vehicles or trailers.

Ministerial Statement – Energy markets: Debate on the Crime and Policing Bill will be interrupted for a short period for what is known as ‘dinner-break business’, to enable Lord Whitehead, a Minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to make a statement. It is expected that this will mirror the statement made by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in the House of Commons last Thursday (5 March).

Grand Committee

From 15:45, Peers will debate seven draft Statutory Instruments:

• Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2026;

• Procurement (Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• Procurement Act 2023 (Specified International Agreements and Saving Provision) (Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026;

• Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) (Amendment) (Specified Period) Order 2026; and

• Employment Rights Act 2025 (Investigatory Powers) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026.

↖ Contents · Skip to Tuesday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

14:00: Foreign Affairs Committee – Disinformation diplomacy: Representatives of TikTok, Meta and X will give evidence.

16:00: Business and Trade Committee – UK trade with the US, India, and the EU: Trade Minister Chris Bryant MP 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, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and other Treasury Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include HMRC approved mileage rates, changes to business rates, community ownership of assets, the cost of living, OBR forecasts, high street businesses, the use of food banks, VAT for the hospitality sector, youth unemployment, roads funding, the loan charge, and VAT on heat batteries.

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

Ten Minute Rule Motion: Labour MP Ruth Jones will seek to introduce a Domestic Abuse (Pets) 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 allow non-molestation orders and occupation orders to apply to behaviour relating to pets, amend definitions of controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse to include such behaviour, and extend the application of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to pets. See our Hansard Society guide for more information about the parliamentary procedure for Ten Minute Rule Bills.

Courts and Tribunals Bill (Second Reading): MPs will for the first time debate the Government’s legislation to reform the courts system, including restrictions to the use of jury trials. Second Reading debates focus on the general principles of a Bill. (House of Commons Library briefing)

No amendments to the Bill’s provisions may be moved at this stage, though opponents of the Bill may seek to move a “reasoned amendment” to the Second Reading motion, which has the effect of blocking the bill while putting reasons for opposing it on the record.

The Bill’s key provisions include:

• mode of trial: removing defendants’ right to choose a jury trial for certain low-level “either-way” offences, leaving it solely for the magistrates’ courts to decide whether the case is heard in the magistrates’ courts or Crown Court, and similarly remove a defendant’s right to reject a Crown Court decision to remit a case to the magistrates’ courts;

• magistrates’ sentencing powers: enabling the maximum custodial sentence available to magistrates’ courts for either-way offences to be increased, by regulations, to up to 18 or 24 months’ imprisonment, thereby allowing more cases to be heard in the magistrates’ courts;

• appeals from magistrates’ courts: replacing the automatic right of appeal from magistrates’ courts with a permission-to-appeal system and ending full rehearings in the Crown Court, with appeals instead focused on the specific grounds of appeal;

• recording of proceedings: introducing audio recording of magistrates’ court trials and sentencing hearings to support the new appeals process;

• trials without a jury: enabling certain either-way offences likely to attract sentences of three years or less to be tried by a judge alone without a jury, and allowing complex fraud and financial offences to also be tried by a judge alone;

• sexual behaviour evidence: clarifying the admissibility of evidence about a complainant’s previous sexual behaviour or previous false allegations of sexual offences;

• support companions: introducing a statutory special measure allowing witnesses to be accompanied by a professional or approved supporter while giving evidence;

• victim personal statements: allowing victims to use special measures – such as screens to shield the victim – when delivering victim personal statements; and

• Children Act 1989 reform: repealing the statutory presumption in proceedings under the Children Act 1989 that parental involvement furthers a child’s welfare.

Once Second Reading is agreed, a programme motion will be put to the House, which will likely commit the Bill to a Public Bill Committee and specify a date by which the Committee must conclude.

A motion to carry over the Bill into the next session will also be put to the House, suggesting that the Government does not expect the Bill to complete its Commons stages before the end of this Session.

Public Petition: Conservative MP Louie French will present a petition on houses in multiple occupation..

Adjournment: Labour MP Jayne Kirkham will give a speech on national resilience in extreme climate and weather events. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: Import and sale of fur and related products (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: National service specification for adult cerebral palsy in the NHS

14:30: Impact of local government reorganisation in the South East (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Government support for English rugby

16:30: Technology sovereignty

Delegated Legislation Committees

09:25: The draft Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

14:30: The draft Higher Education (Fee Limits and Fee Limit Condition) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. These Regulations will increase the limits on tuition fees that higher education providers can charge for full-time undergraduate courses from £9,535 to £9,790 in 2026/27 and £10,050 in 2027/28.

16:30: The draft Employment Rights Act 2025 (Investigatory Powers) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026

Conventionally, Statutory Instruments that are debated on a Tuesday are put to the House for a vote a day later, on Wednesday.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 14:30, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on implementation of section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 that would require political parties to publish information about candidate diversity; raising awareness of dyscalculia in schools; incentivising foreign direct investment; and reforming the student loan system.

Motion relating to the Finance (No. 2) Bill: The Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, will move a motion to dispense with Standing Order 44 on Tuesday 17 March. That Standing Order normally prevents two stages of a Bill from being taken on the same day. If agreed, the motion would allow the Finance (No. 2) Bill – which implements many of the policies announced in last year’s Autumn Budget – to complete all its stages in the House of Lords on 12 March.

Victims and Courts Bill (Report, day 1 of 1): This Government Bill seeks to make provision about the experience of victims within the criminal justice system. (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 scrutinise amendments in the order in which they would apply to the Bill. Topics that will be considered today include the safeguards for children and victims in serious sexual offence cases, access to court transcripts, access to victim support services, compensation for victims of fraud and other economic crime, extensions to the Victim Contact Scheme, the admissibility of certain kinds of evidence, and improving awareness of the unduly lenient sentences scheme.

House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill (Consideration of Commons Reasons): This Government Bill to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords returns to the Lords for Peers to consider the Commons’ position on the amendments made by the Lords during the Bill’s earlier stages.

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, except for 92 “excepted” hereditary peers. These were divided between the parties in the same proportion as the original hereditary peers (predominantly Conservatives and Crossbenchers). Whenever one of the 92 seats became vacant through resignation or death, a by-election was held. In those by-elections, any non-sitting hereditary peer could stand as a candidate, but only sitting hereditary peers from the same party group as the departing peer could vote. By-elections have been suspended in this Session while Peers consider this Bill which will end the hereditary arrangements by removing the remaining 90 hereditary peers from the House at the end of the current parliamentary Session which is likely to finish in mid-May. However, recent media reports suggest the Government may propose creating a larger-than-usual number of life peerages later this year, as part of efforts to ease the passage of this legislation through the House. This could allow some hereditary peers to apply for appointment and, if successful, return to the Chamber as life peers.

The House of Lords made four substantive amendments to the Bill at Report Stage last year, the first of which would significantly alter its effect. The House of Commons considered these amendments on 4 September 2025 and opposed three of them. Only now, six months later, is the Bill returning to the Lords to enable Peers to consider their response to the Commons. The four amendments made by the Lords are outlined below.

1. Retain the excepted peers: An amendment from the Conservative Peer Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay proposed allowing the current hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords, while abolishing the by-elections. This would mean hereditary peers would leave only through resignation or death, leading to their gradual rather than immediate removal from the House. This amendment was rejected by MPs on 4 September 2025 “because the Commons consider that it is more appropriate for section 2 of the House of Lords Act 1999 to be repealed than amended in the manner proposed.” The Government will now ask the House of Lords not to insist on this amendment, and also not to insist on a second amendment which was merely consequential on it.

2. Salaries for Lords Ministers: An amendment from the Conservative Peer Lord True proposed making unpaid Ministers ineligible to sit in the House of Lords, thereby requiring the Government to ensure all Lords ministers are paid. The Commons response was that the provision made by this amendment was “inappropriate”. The Government will now ask the House of Lords not to insist on this amendment as well.

However, last week Ministers unexpectedly presented to Parliament a new Bill, the Ministerial Salaries (Amendment) Bill, which is scheduled to be fast-tracked through all its Commons stages on 17 March. This Bill would amend the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 to increase the total number of ministerial salaries from 109 to 120. Since 2010, successive governments have appointed more Ministers than the current salary limit allows. The present Labour Government has appointed 120 Ministers, of whom two in the House of Commons and nine in the House of Lords currently serve without pay. There is no legal limit on the number of Peers who may serve as unpaid Ministers, and since 2010 as many as 13 Lords ministers have done so at any one time. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 caps the number of ministers who may sit in the House of Commons at 95. As a result, increasing the overall number of ministerial salaries to 120 will effectively raise the minimum number of paid ministerial posts available in the House of Lords to 25, including seven Whips.

In light of this legislation, the Government will hope that the Lords do not insist on their amendment, on the grounds that it has effectively accepted the underlying principle that more Ministers in the Lords should be paid.

3. Life peerages without sitting rights: Another amendment from the Conservative Peer Lord True would clarify that the Monarch may appoint life peers, but without the right to sit in the House of Lords. The Government will also ask the House of Lords not to insist on this amendment on the grounds that MPs concluded in September that “a person on whom a life peerage is conferred under the Life Peerages Act 1958 should participate in the work of the House of Lords.”

4. Power of attorney: A Government amendment, made at Third Reading, would allow people who hold power of attorney on behalf of a member of the House of Lords to sign the necessary papers to enable that member to retire from the House. The House of Commons agreed with this amendment and it therefore does not need to be considered again by the Lords.

In deciding their response to each of the three amendments to which the Commons has disagreed, Peers effectively have three options:

• accept the removal of their amendment, which would resolve the disagreement;

• reject the removal of their amendment, but propose an alternative amendment in lieu and send it to the Commons for consideration; or

• reject the removal of their amendment without proposing an alternative amendment and send it back to the Commons to ask them to reconsider their position.

↖ Contents · Skip to Wednesday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee – The work of Defra and its arm’s length bodies: The Chair and the Chief Executive of Natural England will give evidence.

10:00: Culture, Media and Sport Committee – Children’s TV and video content: Representatives from YouTube will give evidence.

10:00: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – Public Bodies: Former Paymaster General Lord Maude of Horsham, the author of the Maude Review of Governance and Accountability in the Civil Service, will give evidence.

10:00: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee – Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill: Legal and property experts, including Lord Best, will give evidence.

10:00: Education Committee – Historical Forced Adoption: Minister for Children and Families Josh MacAlister MP will give evidence, alongside representatives of Adoption Apology and of Adult Adoptee Movement.

13:45: Environmental Audit Committee – Environmental protection policies of Defra: Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds MP will give evidence.

14:15: Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill – The Service Police Complaints Commissioner, the Judge Advocate General, and heads of the Defence Serious Crime Command and Victim Witness Care Unit will give evidence.

14:15: Treasury Committee – Spring Statement 2026: Representatives of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Government, and St James’s Place will give evidence. The evidence they provide is likely to inform the Committee’s questioning in its session tomorrow with the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

House of Lords

10:30: Justice and Home Affairs Committee – Settlement, Citizenship and Integration: Migration and Citizenship Minister Mike Tapp MP 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, Women and Equalities Ministers will respond to MPs’ questions. Topics include ethnic minority pay disparities, endometriosis, children in poverty, International Women’s Day, violence against women and girls, social mobility for white working class boys, democratic engagement by ethnic minority women, EHRC guidance for schools on gender, covert filming of women in public, support for survivors of sexual assault, and step-free access at railway stations.

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: Conservative MP John Cooper will seek to introduce a Lord Advocate 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 role and functions of the Lord Advocate.

Finance (No. 2) Bill (Ways and Means motions): Separate Ways and Means resolutions are required to provide parliamentary authority for most tax-raising measures, particularly those announced in a Budget. The Finance (No. 2) Bill gives statutory effect to certain tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget, as well as some measures announced in earlier Budgets.

The ‘founding’ resolutions for the Finance (No. 2) Bill were agreed by the House of Commons at the conclusion of the debate on the Budget statement. The scope of a Bill founded on Ways and Means resolutions is determined by those resolutions, and it is therefore out of order to introduce provisions into the Bill that fall outside their terms. Accordingly, if the Government wishes to amend the Bill in a way that goes beyond the original Budget resolutions, it must bring forward additional Ways and Means motions to extend the scope of the Bill.

The Government has tabled two Ways and Means motions – each of which will become ‘resolutions’ if approved by the House – to enable the following amendments:

• lifetime allowance charge: amending the power to make further provision relating to the abolition of the lifetime allowance charge – a tax on UK pension savings abolished in April 2024; and

• offshore income gains: amendments in relation to certain offshore income gains so that certain provisions of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 that previously applied to them no longer apply.

Finance (No. 2) Bill (Report and Third Reading): At Report Stage, the whole House decides whether any amendments should be made or new clauses added to the Bill. We provided a summary of the contents of the Bill, and its relation to the Autumn Budget, in a previous Bulletin.

At the time of writing, MPs have tabled 43 pages of amendments, including amendments from the Conservative Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride and Liberal Democrat spokesperson Daisy Cooper. (House of Commons Library briefing)

The Conservative amendments would:

• remove the freeze in income tax thresholds from the Bill;

• remove, mitigate or delay the planned changes to Inheritance Tax for agricultural and business property;

• require a regular review of the carbon border adjustment mechanism;

• remove the increases in income tax on dividends, savings, and property income from the Bill; and

• remove the imposition of income tax on pension interest.

The Liberal Democrat amendments would:

• require the Government to consult with those affected by the Infected Blood scandal before making regulations on the taxation of compensation payments;

• require the Government to report on the new loan charge settlement opportunity;

• require the Government to publish customer service standards for those exempted from new Making Tax Digital requirements due to digital exclusion; and

• require the Government to report on the operation of the means testing of winter fuel payments.

In accordance with the programme order agreed on 16 December 2025, the Report Stage debate will end by 18:00 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 19:00, 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.

The Bill will then head to the House of Lords. Because it has been certified as a Money Bill, it will not have a Committee or Report Stage in the Lords and such Bills typically go through all their stages in a single sitting. For more information, see the Hansard Society’s guide to Money Bills.

Adjournment: Labour MP Adam Jogee will give a speech on Commonwealth Day 2026. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

09:30: Rough sleeping among families with children (House of Commons Library briefing)

11:00: Government support for people undergoing detransition

14:30: Government support for UK-based tech companies (House of Commons Library briefing)

16:00: Sikh and Jewish ethnicity data collection by public bodies

16:30: Provision of disability equipment (House of Lords Library briefing)

Delegated Legislation Committees

14:30: The draft Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2026

16:30: The draft Procurement (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Conventionally, Statutory Instruments that are debated on a Wednesday are put to the House for a vote the following Monday.

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 15:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the UK space economy; the Sustainable Farming Incentive; and cooperation with the EU on digital services regulation. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Monday 9 March.

Crime and Policing Bill (Report, day 5 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 reach all the topics outlined in Monday’s section above, in which case some of the items listed towards the end may instead be discussed today. Otherwise, the topics likely to be considered today include: the use of face coverings to conceal identity while cycling; failure to obey a police request to exit a vehicle; notification requirements on child and animal cruelty offenders; the handling of police misconduct investigations; and reviews of police training requirements.

Grand Committee

16:15: Peers will debate a report published in June 2025 by the Financial Services Regulation Committee, Growing pains: clarity and culture change required: An examination of the secondary international competitiveness and growth objective. The Government responded to the Committee’s report in September. (House of Lords Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Thursday’s Lords ↘

Highlights include:

House of Commons

09:30: Science, Innovation and Technology Committee – Social media age restrictions: Experts and campaigners, including 5Rights founder Baroness Kidron, will give evidence.

09:30: Health and Social Care Committee – Corridor care: Minister for Secondary Care Karin Smyth MP and senior officials in the health sector will give evidence.

09:45: Treasury Committee – Spring Statement 2026: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, will give evidence.

10:00: Justice Committee – The Committee will hold a pre-appointment hearing with the Government’s preferred candidate for the chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, Richard Blakeway.

House of Lords

10:00: Financial Services Regulation Committee – Growth and proposed regulation of stablecoins in the UK: The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and other economic experts will give evidence.

Joint

14:15: Joint Committee on Human Rights – Human rights of children in the social care system in England: Representatives of Ofsted and the British Association of Social Workers 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, Business and Trade Ministers will face questions from MPs. Topics include improving parental rights at work, steps to increase levels of private sector investment, measures to promote Scottish industry abroad, support for the creation of well-paid jobs, help for start-ups and scale-ups to access new markets, hospitality sector support, increasing trade with Europe, support for micropubs, adequacy of postal delivery services, and trade with India.

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.

General Debate on International Women’s Day: 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 Commons Library briefing)

Adjournment: Liberal Democrat MP Brian Mathew will give a speech on fire station closures. A Minister will then give a response.

Westminster Hall

13:30: Potential merits of modernising marriage regulations (Law Commission report)

15:00: Government support for carnivals (House of Commons Library briefing)

↖ Contents · Skip to Friday’s Commons ↘

Oral questions: At 11:00, Peers will begin the day by questioning Ministers for 40 minutes, on the use of illegal accommodation for children in care; NHS service support for adults with heart valve disease; and the benefits of peatland restoration. The topic of a fourth question will be decided by a ballot drawn at lunchtime on Tuesday 10 March.

Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) Bill (All Stages): This Bill provides formal statutory authority for the Supplementary Estimates agreed by the House of Commons last Wednesday. Last week’s edition of the Bulletin explained the procedures for approving public spending via the Estimates. Only once the Bill receives Royal Assent will the public spending set out in the Estimates have legal effect. Supply and Appropriation Bills are always taken formally, without debate or amendment, in the House of Lords.

National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill (Third Reading): The House will debate 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 Lords Library briefing)

At Third Reading, the House is given a final opportunity to review the text of the Bill. The debate is typically very short. Once the Bill receives a Third Reading, it will return to the House of Commons for MPs to consider the amendments made by the Lords.

Statutory Instrument relating to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme: The House will debate a motion to approve the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026. This Order would bring maritime operators within scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which requires participants to monitor and report on their greenhouse gas emissions and to purchase allowances based on their emissions.

In addition to the motion to approve the Order, two further motions have been tabled, by Baroness Hoey and Lord Moynihan. Baroness Hoey’s is a fatal motion which, if agreed to, would stop the Order from being made into law. Her motion highlights what she describes as differential treatment of Northern Ireland and argues that the Order would increase bureaucratic burdens on business and impose additional costs on consumers. It is exceptionally rare for the House of Lords to agree to a fatal motion against a Statutory Instrument.

Lord Moynihan’s motion is a regret motion. This type of motion allows the House to put its concerns about a Statutory Instrument on the record, without blocking it from taking effect. His motion argues that the Order will result in higher electricity and fuel prices for businesses and consumers, impose onerous costs on maritime businesses, damage the UK’s competitiveness, and weaken the Union by making it more expensive to travel between islands of the UK.

Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill (All Stages): Peers will then debate all stages of the Government’s legislation to remove the two-child limit on Universal Credit payments. (House of Lords Library briefing)

The Speaker of the House of Commons has certified that the Bill is a Money Bill – that is, a Bill which contains only provisions dealing with national taxation, public money, or loans. The procedural consequence of this is to limit the House of Lords’ power to amend the Bill: the amending stages at Committee and Report are dispensed with, and all stages are taken in a single sitting. The only substantive consideration given to Money Bills by Peers is the debate on the Second Reading motion. See the Hansard Society’s guide to Money Bills for more information.

Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill (All Stages): Peers will debate all stages of the Government’s bill to amend the regime for providing financial assistance to industry and export finance, the main provisions of which were explained in a previous edition of the Bulletin. (House of Lords Library briefing)

Like the preceding Bill, the Speaker of the House of Commons has certified that the Bill is a Money Bill. It will therefore complete all its stages today.

Statutory Instrument relating to schools: The House will debate “regret” motions tabled in relation to two Statutory Instruments:

• the Schools (Recording and Reporting of Seclusion and Restraint) (England) Regulations 2025; and

• the Schools (Recording and Reporting of Seclusion and Restraint) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2025.

Both of these Statutory Instruments are subject to the negative procedure. This means they are signed into law before being laid in Parliament and remain in law unless either House agrees a motion to annul them. The motions tabled in relation to these Regulations are not annulment motions but regret motions. These do not invalidate the Regulations; instead they provide an opportunity for the House to place its concerns on the record.

The first set of Regulations introduces new requirements for schools to record instances where pupils are subject to seclusion or restraint, and to report these incidents to the parents of the pupils involved. The second set of Regulations revokes the first, on the basis that those Regulations “were unfinished and were made in error”, and replaces them with revised provisions.

Both regret motions are tabled by Lord Lucas and express identical concern that the Regulations are “accompanied by an impact assessment that underestimates the cost of implementation” and “do not enable the best use of the information which will be recorded by schools”.

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Highlights include:

House of Commons

10:00: Public Accounts Committee – The Access to Work scheme: The Department for Work and Pensions Permanent Secretary and other senior DWP 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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Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Committee, day 11): From 10:00, the House will meet to continue its consideration of the Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. 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. (House of Lords Library briefing)

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 90 groups, of which just 30 have been debated. The slow pace of progress has given rise to the suggestion that the Parliament Act might be deployed in the next Session to bring the Bill into law despite the opposition or indecision of the House of Lords. A recent episode of our Parliament Matters podcast includes a detailed discussion of how the Parliament Act works and how it might be utilised for this Private Member’s Bill.

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 may also be published, and the sponsoring Peer, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, will indicate how many of these groups he hopes will be debated today.

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Both Houses will resume at 14:30 on Monday 16 March 2026. Our next Bulletin will therefore be published on Sunday 15 March.

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