Ballot

Under this method Members who apply are drawn from a ballot and, if successful, are given Parliamentary time for their bill. Members of Parliament who are successful in the ballot often have a higher chance of seeing their legislation passed, as greater Parliamentary time is given to ballots than other methods of passing a PMB such as under the Ten Minute Rule. It is normal for the first seven ballot bills to get one day's debate each.^[1]

Ten Minute Rule

The Ten Minute Rule is a method of introducing a PMB after a brief debate. A member speaks for up to ten minutes on a motion under Standing Order 23 to introduce a bill, followed potentially by an opposing member's ten minute speech. If the motion is passed, the bill is introduced and given a formal first reading; it is unlikely to make further progress because it will not be given priority on the parliamentary calendar. The Ten Minute Rule can be used to generate publicity for a particular issue. Often they are used merely as an opportunity to criticise legislation rather than pass a bill.^[1]

Presentation

Under this method any Member of Parliament may introduce a PMB if they have previously given an indication that they intend to do so. Members then formally introduce the bill but do not speak to support it. It is rare for a PMB to succeed by this method.^{[citation needed]}

Procedure

The second reading and subsequent readings of Private Members Bills take place on a sitting Friday. The sitting times for debate are 9.30am until 2.30pm; the debates for each bill must be concluded before 2.30pm in order to progress to the next stage of the bill passage. If the debate has not concluded before the time has run out, it will be moved to the bottom of the list of bills to be read and rescheduled for another time. For any sitting Friday there can be as many as 50 bills scheduled for debate on the order paper, however due to the short amount of time allotted to Friday sittings, Parliament has never progressed further than the 4th bill listed on the order of business for the day.

Reform proposals

The low number of Private Members' Bill passed has resulted in calls for reform of the PMB system. The Hansard Society has produced reform proposals in a pamphlet called 'Enhancing the Role of Backbench MPs'. The pamphlet calls for greater resourcing of PMBs and changes to the times when Private Members' Bills are debated.^[3]

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Current parliamentary session

Current parliamentary session