3.01  The House usually sits for public business on Mondays and Tuesdays at 2.30 p.m., on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. and on Thursdays at 11 a.m. The House also sits on Fridays at 11 a.m. when pressure of business makes it necessary. It is a firm convention that the House normally rises by about 10 p.m. on Mondays to Wednesdays and by about 7 p.m. on Thursdays. The time of meeting of the House can be varied to meet the convenience of the House. In exceptional circumstances the House has met on Saturday and on Sunday.[60]

3.02  Except after a dissolution, the Parliamentary session normally begins and ends in November.

3.03  The House breaks for recesses as follows:

• over Christmas and New Year (usually two weeks);
• sometimes in late February (up to one week);
• at Easter (one or two weeks);
• over the Spring Bank Holiday (one week); and
• in the summer (between July and September[61] or October).

Lord Speaker's procession and the Mace

3.04  Before each day's sitting the Lord Speaker walks in procession from her room to the Chamber, preceded by the Mace.[62] During the procession, doorkeepers and security staff ensure that the route is unobstructed. The procession crosses the Prince's Chamber and moves down the Not-content Lobby, entering the Chamber from below Bar on the temporal side. The Lord Speaker continues up the temporal side of the House to the Woolsack. After the Bishop has read the Psalm, the Lord Speaker and other members present kneel or stand for prayers. When these have been read, the Lord Speaker takes her seat on the Woolsack.

3.05  If the Lord Speaker is absent at the beginning of the sitting, the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, alone, takes the Mace by way of the Library Corridor to meet the Deputy Speaker at the Brass Gates in the Peers' Lobby.

3.06  When the House sits following a judicial sitting earlier in the day,[63] the Mace is already on the Woolsack and prayers have been read; the Lord Speaker enters the House from the Prince's Chamber on the spiritual side.

Prayers

3.07  Prayers are read at the beginning of each sitting. When the House sits judicially, prayers are read before judicial business and not again when the House resumes for public business. Ordinarily prayers are read by one of the Bishops, who take a week each in turn.[64] In the absence of a Bishop, a member of the House who is a clergyman of the Church of England may read prayers. If no such member is present, the Lord on the Woolsack reads prayers. The prayers are printed in appendix K (page 226). During prayers the doors and galleries of the House are closed and visitors are excluded.

Quorum

3.08  The quorum of the House is three, including the Lord Speaker or Deputy Speaker. There is however a quorum of 30 for divisions on bills and on any motion to approve or disapprove subordinate legislation. [65]

Change of Speaker

3.09  During the course of business the Lord Speaker may be replaced on the Woolsack by a Deputy Speaker. When one Lord takes the place of another on the Woolsack, there is no interruption of business. The Lord who is to preside stands at the side of the Woolsack, on the spiritual side. The Lord on the Woolsack rises and moves to the temporal side. They bow to each other. The Lord previously on the Woolsack withdraws and the replacement sits down on the Woolsack.

Adjournment

3.10  At the end of business a member of the government moves "That the House do now adjourn." The Lord Speaker puts the Question, but does not collect the voices because this Question is not usually debated. If any member of the House wishes to debate it, the Lord Speaker should be informed beforehand.

3.11  As soon as the Lord Speaker has put the Question for the adjournment she leaves the Chamber by the temporal side and the Bar, preceded by the Mace, and returns in procession to her room via the Law Lords' and Library Corridors.

3.12  If a Deputy Speaker is on the Woolsack when the House adjourns, the above ceremony is observed, but the Deputy Speaker leaves the procession in the Peers' Lobby.

Secret sittings

3.13  If the House wishes to meet in secret, a motion of which notice is not required is made to that effect.[66] When an order for a secret sitting is made, the Chamber is cleared of everyone except members of the House, the Clerks at the Table and Black Rod. Members of the House of Commons are not required to withdraw.

Grand Committee

3.14  Certain types of business may take place in Grand Committee. The procedure in a Grand Committee is the same for each type of business as the procedure would have been in the House when such business is considered, except that divisions may not take place in Grand Committee.[67]

3.15  A Grand Committee is a committee of unlimited membership. Any member of the House may participate in it. Only one Grand Committee sits on any one day. The place of meeting is usually the Moses Room.

3.16  The following types of business may take place in Grand Committee:

(a)  Committee stages of public bills (only one bill per day - see paragraph 7.97)

(b)  Motions to consider affirmative instruments (see paragraph 9.15)

(c)  Motions to consider negative instruments (see paragraph 9.18)

(d)  Motions to consider reports of select committees (see paragraph 10.34)

(e)  Questions for short debate (see paragraph 5.39)

3.17  Grand Committees sit for times agreed in advance, irrespective of the rising of the House.[68] Notice of the proceedings is given in House of Lords Business. The normal sitting times of Grand Committee are:

• Monday, Tuesday 3.30-7.30pm
• Wednesday 3.45-7.45pm[69]
• Thursday 2-6pm

3.18  Committee proceedings begin at the appointed time without any preliminary motion. Members speak standing and, so far as they can, observe the same degree of formality as in the Chamber. Forms of words used in Grand Committee are the same as in Committee of the whole House. The committee adjourns for 10 minutes for a division in the House. If the committee is to break (e.g. for a division or a statement in the Chamber), or adjourn at the end of the day's proceedings, the committee is simply adjourned without Question put. The verbatim report of the Grand Committee's proceedings is published as an appendix to Hansard, and the minutes are published as an appendix to the Minutes of Proceedings.

Leave of the House

3.19  The leave of the House is required before certain procedures or items of business can proceed. Leave must be unanimous in those cases where, if leave were granted, the House or committee would be deprived of having a Question put.[70] In most other cases where leave is sought, it is granted by majority and the objection of a single member of the House is not sufficient to withhold leave. Similar rules apply in Committees of the whole House.

3.20  Leave is granted by majority:

(a)  to ask questions;

(b)  to make ministerial or personal statements;

(c)  to take business not on the order paper of which notice is not required;

(d)  to speak more than once to a motion.

3.21  Leave is withheld if a single member of the House objects to:

(a)  withdrawal of an amendment or a motion which is before the House;

(b)  moving motions, amendments and clauses en bloc (see paragraph 3.51)

(c)  moving a motion that the order of commitment or recommitment of a bill be discharged;

(d)  moving a motion or asking a question when the mover or questioner is absent;

(e)  postponing business without notice till later the same day.

3.22  Leave is usually obtained without putting the Question; but if necessary, the Question "that leave be given" could be divided upon in a case where leave may be granted by a majority decision. However, this would be exceptional, as a member who requests leave usually tests the feeling of the House and, if there is opposition to leave being granted, the request is generally withdrawn.

Suspension of standing orders

3.23  SO 88 provides that no motion shall be agreed to for making a new standing order, or for dispensing with a standing order, unless notice has been given on the order paper. Consequently, when it is desired that a standing order should be suspended for a specific period, or dispensed with for a particular purpose, notice of a motion, customarily in the name of the Leader of the House, is inserted on the order paper under the heading "Business of the House". Such motions are taken before other notices relating to public business. SOs 41 (arrangement of the order paper) and 47 (no two stages of a bill to be taken on one day) are sometimes suspended when pressure of business increases before a recess or prorogation, to enable the government to arrange the order of business and to take more than one stage of a bill at a sitting.

3.24  SO 88 provides that on occasions of grave national emergency a bill may be passed through all its stages on one day without notice. In such cases SOs 47 and 87 are read at the Table by the Clerk and a resolution is moved that it is essential for reasons of national security that a bill or bills should immediately be proceeded with and that the provisions of SO 47 should be dispensed with to enable the House to proceed that day with every stage of the bill or bills which it thinks necessary.[71]

House documents

3.25  There are three core documents giving information about the business that the House has done and the business it expects to do:

• House of Lords Business, a single document containing future business and the Minutes of Proceedings, the daily record of business transacted;
• the white order paper (the agenda for the day);
• Hansard (the official report of what is said in debate).

House of Lords Business

3.27  House of Lords Business is printed after each day's business and is also available on the internet (www.parliament.uk). It shows future business to be taken in the House, so far as arranged. It also includes:

(a)  business of which notice has been given but for which no day has been named. This business is grouped under five headings:

(i) Motions for balloted debates;

(ii) Select committee reports for debate (with the date on which the report was published);

(iii) Other motions for debate;

(iv) Motions relating to statutory instruments;

(v) Questions for short debate;

(b)  a list of questions for written answer tabled that day, together with a table showing any written questions which remain unanswered after 14 days. All unanswered written questions are republished on the last sitting day of each week in a separate document issued with House of Lords Business;

(c)  lists of bills, Measures, affirmative and hybrid instruments, Northern Ireland Assembly legislation on reserved/excepted matters, regulatory reform orders, human rights remedial orders and special procedure orders in progress, showing the stage reached by each and, in the case of bills, the next date on which the bill will be taken, if known;

(d)  notices of committee sittings.

Arrangement of business

THE USUAL CHANNELS

3.30  The Government Chief Whip is responsible for the detailed arrangement of government business and the business of individual sittings. He consults his opposite numbers in the two main opposition parties. The smooth running of the House depends largely on the Whips. They agree the arrangement of business through the "usual channels". The usual channels consist of the Leaders and Whips of the three main political parties. For certain purposes the usual channels include the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers.

NOTICES

3.31  Motions or questions may be handed in to the House of Lords Table Office (from 10am to House Up) or at the Table while the House is sitting. At other times they may be handed to a Clerk, addressed by post to the House of Lords Table Office or faxed to the House of Lords Table Office (020 7219 3887).

3.32  Whenever any new notice is put down in House of Lords Business, or any material alteration is made to the text of an existing motion or question, it is marked with a dagger (†) to draw attention to it.[72]

3.33  Business may be tabled any length of time in advance, up to the end of the session, except:

• oral questions, which may be tabled up to one month in advance including recesses;[73]
• motions and questions for short debate, which may be tabled up to one month in advance excluding recesses.[74]

3.34  If a member of the House wishes a notice to appear in House of Lords Business before a specific date has been fixed for it, he may enter it under either "Motions for debate", "Questions for short debate" or "Motions relating to statutory instruments". There is no strictly formulated rule against anticipation; but:

(a)  a member should not put down for a specific date a question or subject for debate which already appears in the name of another member under any of the undated headings without first consulting that member; and

(b)  it is not in the interests of good order and courtesy that a member should table for an earlier day a question or motion similar to one that has already been tabled for a particular day.

3.35  Italic notes are often used to give the House advance notice of business that is not yet ready to be tabled.[75]

3.36  Notices may be withdrawn or put down for a later date by the member of the House in whose name they stand.[76] Oral questions and questions for short debate may be brought forward to an earlier day without leave, at the request of the member asking the question. Other notices can only be brought forward by leave of the House obtained on a motion, of which notice must be given. Such a motion is generally moved by the Leader of the House.[77]

3.37  Business of which notice is required (see paragraph 3.39) must first be called before it can proceed. Questions and motions are called by the Clerk, in the order in which they appear on the order paper.[78] Amendments to bills are called by the Lord on the Woolsack or in the Chair, in the order of the marshalled list. Amendments to motions are called by the Lord on the Woolsack.

3.38  If a member of the House is absent when a motion or question standing in his name is called and he has authorised another member to act on his behalf, that member may do so, explaining the situation. Otherwise, the motion or question cannot be proceeded with on that day unless unanimous leave is granted by the House.[79] In that case, when the Clerk has called the motion or question, a member may ask for leave to move the motion or ask the question standing in the name of the absent member. If there is a single dissenting voice, the House passes on to the next business. Notice must be given before business not proceeded with can be taken on a subsequent date. This does not apply to amendments to bills (see paragraph 7.60).

BUSINESS OF WHICH NOTICE IS REQUIRED OR NOT REQUIRED

3.39  Business of which notice is required must appear at least on the white order paper of the day on which it is to be taken, and wherever possible also in House of Lords Business.[80] Notice must be given of oral questions, questions for short debate and all motions except the following which the House customarily allows to be moved without notice:[81]

(a)  business which does not involve a decision of the House:
(i) Royal Assent;

(ii) obituary tributes and personal statements;

(iii) ministerial statements and private notice questions;

(iv) statements or questions on business, procedure and privilege;

(v) oaths of allegiance;

(vi) presentation of public petitions;

(b)  manuscript amendments to bills and motions;

(c)  business expressly exempted from the need to give notice,[82] namely:

(i)   messages from the Crown;

(ii) introduction of bills;

(iii) messages from the Commons and first reading of bills;

(iv) consideration of Commons amendments and reasons, though reasonable notice should be given when possible;[83]

(d)  motions relating to the way in which the House conducts its business, for example:

(i) motions for the adjournment of a debate, or of the House;

(ii) the motion to go into Committee of the whole House for more freedom of debate on a motion;[84]

(iii) in Committee of the whole House, motions to adjourn debate on an amendment, or to resume the House;

(iv) the motion that leave be not given to ask a question;

(v) the motion that the noble Lord be no longer heard (paragraph 4.59);

(vi) the Closure (paragraph 4.65);

(vii) the Next Business motion (paragraph 4.61);

(viii) the motion that the Lord X be appointed Lord Speaker pro tempore;

(ix) the motion that the House should meet in secret (paragraph 3.13).

3.40  A proposal to move motions en bloc requires two sitting days' notice.

ORDER OF BUSINESS

3.41  The House proceeds with the business of each day in the order in which it stands on the order paper.[85] Business is entered on the order paper in the order in which it is received at the Table, subject to the following main conditions laid down in SO 41:

(a)  oral questions are placed first;

(b)  private business is, subject to the Chairman of Committees' discretion, placed before public business;

(c)  business of the House motions and, if so desired, the Chairman of Committees' business (for example, consideration of reports from domestic committees) are placed before other public business;

(d)  on all days except Thursdays,[86] public bills, Measures, affirmative instruments and reports from select committees of the House have precedence over general motions and other public business. On Thursdays general motions have precedence;

(e)  any motion relating to a report from the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee on a draft regulatory reform order is placed before a motion to approve that draft order;[87]

(f)  any motion relating to a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights on a remedial order or draft remedial order laid under Schedule 2 to the Human Rights Act 1998 is placed before a motion to approve that order or draft order;[88]

(g)  questions for short debate are placed last, even when it is known that they will be taken in the lunch or dinner break

3.42  Royal Assent is frequently notified before oral questions, but may be notified between any two items of business or at the end of business, if necessary after an adjournment. Royal Assent by Commission is held at a time agreed with the House of Commons.

3.43  Private bills are entered on the order paper after oral questions.[89] But if a private bill is likely to be debated on second or third reading, or if a debate unexpectedly arises upon it, the Chairman of Committees may propose the postponement or adjournment of that stage of the bill either to a time later in the same day, or to another day. Members intending to debate any stage of a private bill should accordingly give notice of their intention to the Chairman of Committees. Private bills may also be entered at a later point on the order paper at the discretion of the Chairman of Committees.

3.44  The order in which business is usually taken is as follows:

(a)  prayers;

(b)  introductions;

(c)  oaths of allegiance (or at the end of business);

(d)  the Lord Speaker's leave of absence;

(e)  messages and answers from the Crown;

(f)  Royal Assent (or at any convenient time during the sitting);

(g)  Addresses of congratulation or sympathy to the Crown;[90]

(h)  notification of death and obituary tributes;

(i)  personal statements;

(j)  oral questions;

(k)  private notice questions;

(l)  presentation of public petitions;

(m)  questions of privilege;

(n)  statements on business;

(o)  ministerial statements (or at the first convenient moment);

(p)  presentation of new Lords bills (or at the end of business);[91]

(q)  messages from the Commons (or at any convenient time during the sitting);

(r)  private bills, at the discretion of the Chairman of Committees;

(s)  business of the House motions;

(t)  motions to amend Standing Orders;

(u)  motions relating to the Chairman of Committees' business, if he so desires;

(v)  motions for the appointment of select committees;

(w)  public business;

(x)  questions for short debate.

VARIATION OF ORDER OF BUSINESS

3.45  Under SO 41(8) the order of notices relating to public bills, Measures, affirmative instruments and reports from select committees can be varied by agreement of the members in whose names the notices stand. Such variations are subject to SO 41(4) and (5) so that on Thursdays notices relating to such business may not be advanced before notices relating to motions, even with the consent of those affected. In such cases a formal motion is required to vary the order of business.

3.46  Where it is wished to vary the order of business beyond the terms of SO 41(4) and (5), a "business of the House" motion may be put down to suspend or dispense with SO 41. The Standing Order is sometimes suspended so far as is necessary to give the government power to arrange the order of business.

3.47  Business may be postponed until later the same day without notice, with the unanimous leave of the House.[92] When the Clerk has called the business, the Lord in charge of the business says, "Unless any noble Lord objects, I beg to move that X be postponed until after Y". If this is agreed to, the House proceeds to the next business on the order paper.

3.48  If business is adjourned, the House may without notice make an order for the adjourned business to be taken later on the same day or taken first on some specified future day,[93] subject to the rules governing the order in which categories of business may be taken.

LUNCH AND DINNER BREAKS

3.49  It is often for the convenience of the House that the main business of the day be interrupted, usually around 7.30 p.m., for other business to be taken during the dinner break. On days when the House sits in the morning there may be a lunch break at around 1.30 p.m. Lunch or dinner break business is marked as such in House of Lords Business. Interruptions of this sort may also be announced after oral questions by means of a business statement. At the desired time a motion is moved that the proceedings be adjourned or, if the House is in committee, that the House be resumed. It is usual at this point for an indication to be given that the main business will not be resumed before a certain time. The House then proceeds to consider the next business on the order paper. If this is disposed of before the time indicated for the resumption of business, the House adjourns "during pleasure"[94] until that time.

3.50  If the intention is simply to interrupt the proceedings for a period without taking any other business, a motion is moved that the House do adjourn during pleasure until a stated time. If the House is in committee, however, the proceedings may, with the consent of the committee, be interrupted without any Question being put. If such an interruption is proposed, and no member of the House objects, the Lord in the Chair announces:

"The Committee stands adjourned until -".

MOTIONS EN BLOC

3.51  Certain categories of motion may be moved en bloc when they are not expected to be debated. This means that a single Question is put and decided. The categories are as follows:

(a)  Motions to approve affirmative instruments (see paragraph 9.14)

(b)  Motions to refer affirmative instruments to Grand Committee (see paragraph 9.16)

(c)  Motions to reappoint select committees (see paragraph 10.06)

(d)  Stages of consolidation bills (see paragraph 7.203)

(e)  Motions to carry over private bills[95]

3.52  Moving other categories of motion en bloc may be authorised by business of the House motion.

3.53  The following rules apply:

• Two sitting days' notice must be given, by means of an italic note in House of Lords Business.
• If a single member objects, the motions must be moved separately to the extent desired.

3.54  For moving amendments and clauses en bloc, see paragraphs 7.76, 7.79, 7.130 and 7.160.

Hansard

3.55  The Official Report, or Hansard, is the record of speeches made in the House during the course of its proceedings. It also includes:

(a)  any speeches made in proceedings in Grand Committees and public bill committees (these are printed as annexes to the daily proceedings);

(b)  certain items which are the subject of formal minute entries, such as private bills brought from the Commons, and Commons bills returned with Lords amendments agreed to;

(c)  a hyperlink to the electronic texts of domestic committee reports (Procedure, House, Administration and Works, Information, Refreshment, Works of Art, Liaison, Selection);

(d)  texts of amendments moved;

(e)  with the leave of the House, ministerial statements made in the Commons but not in the Lords, if it is for the convenience of the House to have them reproduced;[96]

(f)  matters too lengthy or too complicated to be given orally in ministerial statements or in answers to oral questions;[97]

(g)  the text of replies to questions for written answer and of written statements.[98] There is a limit of two columns of print for answers to written questions, and very long answers are not printed but are placed in the Library of the House;[99]

(h)  division lists.

3.56  Hansard is produced by an Editor and staff who are accountable to the Clerk of the Parliaments. It is published on the next working day and is also available on the Internet (www.parliament.uk). The daily parts are available on the morning after the sitting which they report. If the House sits after 2.30 a.m., a cut-off time on material published may be imposed. The remaining business from that sitting will appear in the next daily part and a photocopy of the text to be printed will be available in the Library. The daily parts, unrevised, are bound up and issued as a weekly report with a separate index, and are available about three days after the end of the week to which they refer. Bound volumes incorporating revisions and corrections are issued at convenient intervals, fully indexed. A cumulative sessional index is published separately from time to time.

3.57  Members of the House may take out subscriptions for Hansard to be sent regularly to them by post (see paragraphs 3.74-3.75).

CORRECTION OF SPEECHES

3.58  When correcting their speeches, members should not attempt to alter the sense of words spoken by them in debate. The procedure for suggesting corrections to be included in the bound volumes is printed on the inside cover of each daily part.[100]

Journals

3.59  The Journals are the permanent official record of the proceedings of the House, compiled from the Minutes of Proceedings. The Journals differ from the Minutes in that they include a daily record of members present, reports of the domestic committees of the House, the letters patent of peers on introduction, and an index. All copies of the Journals of either House are admitted as evidence by the courts and others.[101] If required in evidence, a copy or extract of the Journals, authenticated by the Clerk of the Parliaments, may be supplied on payment of a fee.

3.60  The earliest Journal surviving in the custody of the House of Lords is of the 1509 session, although earlier Journals are known to exist. The Journals were originally kept in manuscript, but an order for their printing was made in 1767, and since 1830 they have been printed each session.

Parliamentary papers

PAPERS LAID BEFORE THE HOUSE

3.61  The Minutes of Proceedings record each day the titles of various documents presented or laid in the House on that day and also those laid since the last sitting. These documents, known as "papers", fall into two main categories:

(a)  papers presented by command of Her Majesty on the initiative of a minister of the Crown. These are known as "Command papers". The majority are published in a numbered series currently labelled "Cm". Command papers may be presented at any time during the existence of a Parliament, including non-sitting days, recesses and prorogation;

(b)  papers laid before the House pursuant to an Act, statutory instrument or Measure. These are known as "Act papers". They may be of either a legislative or an executive character, and they may be either subject to a degree of parliamentary control (depending on the provisions of the parent statute) or purely informative.

3.63  Certain statutory instruments can be laid when the House is not sitting for public business, namely those instruments (apart from special procedure orders) which are required to be laid before Parliament after being made, but which do not require to be approved by resolution or lie before Parliament for any period before they come into operation.[102] The times when such instruments may be deposited are those shown in the table.

3.64  No papers of any type may be laid during a dissolution of Parliament.

3.65  If it is necessary to bring a statutory instrument into operation before it has been laid before Parliament, the responsible Department must submit a notification and explanation to the Lord Speaker.[103] Their arrival is recorded in the minutes of the next sitting day's proceedings.

DAYS WHEN PAPERS MAY BE LAID

3.66  Papers may be laid on the days and times set out in the table.

3.67  Departments wishing to lay Command papers or statutory instruments outside these hours must make special arrangements for their receipt with the Printed Paper Office.

ENTITLEMENT

3.68  Members of the House are entitled to obtain free of charge from the Printed Paper Office such current parliamentary papers and other publications as they clearly require to discharge their current parliamentary duties.[105] These include:

• Command papers;
• Act papers;
• statutory instruments;
• Acts and Measures;
• any document printed pursuant to an order of either House;
• other working papers of the House, including bills, explanatory notes on bills, amendments, House of Lords Business and Hansard (Lords and Commons);
• papers relating to the work of the European Union.

3.69  Members of the House may also obtain, free of charge, government publications up to a price limit,[106] whether or not published or sold by The Stationery Office. Papers above the price limit are available for consultation in the Library of the House and members are expected to consult them there, and not request a personal copy. Any publication referred to in a motion or question for short debate which has been set down for a named day in House of Lords Business will be supplied free to any member on request.

3.70  Members are entitled to one copy of these papers. If they have spoken in a debate, they are entitled to collect up to six copies of the Lords Hansard in which their speech is reported.

3.71  It should be noted that members are not automatically entitled to receive free of charge publications appearing on The Stationery Office's Daily Lists, unless they meet the criterion of being required for the discharge of their current Parliamentary duties; and that historical, technical, scientific reference and similar classes of publications will not generally be supplied to members free of charge, unless specially authorised by the Clerk of the Parliaments.

3.72  In order to enable the Printed Paper Office to provide a prompt service to all members of the House, members should first consult the Library when the identification of a paper is in doubt, or when they wish to find answers to specific questions from published sources.

ORDERING OF PAPERS

3.73  Papers may be ordered from the Printed Paper Office by letter, by telephone, in person or by use of printed demand forms (see below). For reasons of economy, members are asked to collect papers in person from the Printed Paper Office whenever possible. Many parliamentary papers are also available on the Internet (www.parliament.uk) and the parliamentary intranet.

3.74  Members of the House may take out subscriptions and set up standing orders for parliamentary papers to be sent regularly to them by post. Three forms are used:

• a blue form listing the regular working papers of the House is given to members when they first take their seats. Papers ordered on this form are sent on a regular basis direct from the printers to members' private addresses;
• a pink form giving a list of current Command papers, Lords bills and other papers is circulated once a week to those who have asked to receive it. Papers ordered on this form are sent by the Printed Paper Office to members at their private addresses;
• a yellow form giving a list of European Union papers such as the Official Journal, proposals for European legislation, and consultative documents of the Commission, together with government memoranda, is circulated to those who have asked to receive it. Papers ordered on this form are sent by the Printed Paper Office to members' private addresses.

3.75  Members of the House may order through the Printed Paper Office any government publications which are not available to them free of charge, and also extra copies of papers above their basic entitlement. These papers are sent to members together with an invoice.

3.76  Members of the House may specify up to two addresses to which their parliamentary papers are to be sent. Those with addresses in the London postal area may receive House of Lords Business and Lords Hansard for any day on the following morning by special service. All other papers are despatched by first class mail. No charge is made to members for the postage of papers sent to them under the official frank. Members who wish occasionally to send their copy of Lords Hansard to a third party may ask the Printed Paper Office to frank the envelope provided the member himself has addressed and sealed it.

Public petitions

3.77  Members of the public may petition the House of Lords, but only a member of the House may present a petition. Members of the House should give the following guidance to members of the public who ask them to present petitions on their behalf.

3.78  Petitions to the House of Lords begin:

"To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, The humble Petition of [names or designation of petitioners] sheweth".

3.80  Members of the House presenting petitions should sign them, and either send them to the Clerk of the Parliaments or hand them in at the Table.[107] In either case, having notified the Table in advance, they rise in their place after oral questions and say:

"My Lords, I beg to present a petition from [names or designation], which prays that this House will [the prayer is read out]."

3.81  They may add:

"The petition bears X signatures."

but no speech may be made and no debate follows.

3.82  Petitions relating to a public bill may be presented at any time during its passage through the House. A petition relating to a bill which has not been before the House, or which has already been rejected by it, cannot be presented.

3.83  The presentation of a petition is recorded in the Minutes of Proceedings, and the petition is retained in the Parliamentary Archives for one year. However, no order is made for the petition to be printed unless a member of the House puts down a motion to debate it for a designated day; otherwise no action follows.

3.84  A member proposing to present a petition should consult the Clerk of the Parliaments at an early stage.

Messages between the two Houses

3.85  A message is the means of formal communication between the two Houses. It is used for sending bills from one House to the other, for informing one House of the agreement or disagreement of the other to bills or amendments, for requesting the attendance of staff of either House as witnesses, for the exchange of documents, for the setting up of joint committees, to obtain agreement to the suspension of proceedings on legislation from one session to the next, and for other matters on which the two Houses wish to communicate.

3.86  Messages to the Commons are taken by a Lords Clerk and handed to the Serjeant-at-Arms. Messages from the Commons are brought by a Commons Clerk to the Bar of the House and presented to the Clerk at the Table. There is no special ceremony for the arrival of a message, and the business of the House proceeds without interruption.

61   Procedure 3rd Rpt 2003-04. Back

62   The procession consists of a Doorkeeper, followed by the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms or Principal Doorkeeper bearing the Mace, followed by the Lord Speaker. In the Prince's Chamber, Black Rod joins the end of the procession. Procedure 4th Rpt 2005-06. Back

63   Before a judicial sitting, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms bears the Mace through the Prince's Chamber into the House on the temporal side, where the Lord of Appeal in Ordinary who is to sit as Lord Speaker is waiting in front of the Woolsack facing the Throne. When the Mace arrives at the Woolsack, the Lord Speaker bows to the Mace, then turns to bow to the Bishop and turns to face the Throne during prayers. When prayers have been read he takes his seat on the Woolsack. Back

64   The two Archbishops and the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester do not take part in this rota. Back

65   SO 58. Back

66   SO 15. Back

67   Report to the Leader from the Group on sittings of the House: HL Paper (1993-94) 83, paragraph 22; Procedure 1st Rpt 2005-06. Back

68   Procedure 3rd Rpt 2003-04. Back

69   Procedure 2nd Rpt 2005-06. Back

70   SO 32. Back

71   LJ (1971-72) 159. Back

72   Procedure 1st Rpt 1969-70. Back

73   See paragraph 5.21 for a full explanation of the times at which oral questions may be tabled. Back

74   SO 44. Back

75   Procedure 5th Rpt 1966-67. Back

76   SO 43(1). Back

77   Procedure 5th Rpt 1966-67, 1st Rpt 1975-76. Back

78   SO 40. Back

79   Procedure 2nd Rpt 1992-93. Back

80   SO 37, Procedure 5th Rpt 1970-71. Back

81   Procedure 5th Rpt 1970-71. Back

82   SO 42. Back

83   Procedure 1st Rpt 1987-88. Back

84   SO 63, HL Deb. 16 June 1958 col. 892. Back

85   SOs 40, 41. Back

86   Procedure 6th Rpt 2005-06. Back

87   SO 41(6). Back

88   SO 41(7). Back

89   Procedure 2nd Rpt 1958-59. Back

90   Procedure 4th Rpt 1964-65. Back

91   SO 42(3). Back

92   SO 43(3). Back

93   SO 46. Back

94   Adjournments "during pleasure" are breaks in a sitting for specified or unspecified periods. Back

95   Procedure 2nd Rpt 2006-07. Back

96   Procedure 7th Rpt 1970-71. Back

97   Procedure 4th Rpt 1963-64. Back

98   SO 45. Back

99   Procedure 4th Rpt 1998-99. The Leader of the House advises if necessary on individual cases of difficulty (Procedure Committee minutes, 4 April 2000). Back

100   Procedure 6th Rpt 1969-70. Back

101   Evidence Act 1845, s. 3. The Act does not extend to Scotland. Back

102   SO 71. Back

103   Statutory Instruments Act 1946, s. 4, as amended by Sch. 6 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005; SO 72. Back

104   Procedure 2nd Rpt 2006-07. Back

105   Offices 4th Rpt 1966-67. Back

106   £50 in 2006. See Handbook on facilities and services for members. Back

107   SO 75. Back