Committee of the Whole House

Committee of the Whole House in United Kingdom

Definition of Committee of The Whole House

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Committee of The Whole House : A committee of which all members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords are members. In the Lords it sits for the committee stage of all public Bills. In the Commons the committee stage is normally taken by a *standing committee, but major Bills (particularly if controversial) are sometimes referred instead to a whole House committee. Certain matters concerning expenditure and taxation were formerly considered by the whole House sitting as the Committee of Supply or the Committee of Ways and Means, but since 1967 they have been dealt with by the House sitting as such.

Committee of the whole House Meaning, as used in the UK Parliament

A Committee of the whole House is sometimes used instead of a Public Bill Committee for some or all of a Bill’s committee stage in the Commons. It takes place in the main chamber and allows all Members of the Parliament to take part in the debate and to vote on the Bill’s contents.

When the House sits as a committee it is chaired by the Deputy Speaker from a seat at the Table of the House. Committees of the whole House are favoured for Bills of constitutional or ethical importance and for parts of the annual Finance Bill.

Resources

See Also

  • Committee stage

Further Reading


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