– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 30 Ionawr 1964.
Ordered,That notwithstanding anything in paragraph (2) of Standing Order No. 59 (Standing Committees (Constitution and Powers)), Clause 56 of and Schedule 6 to the Police Bill shall be considered by the Scottish Standing Committee as if such Clause and Schedule had been a separate Bill, which after committal by the House had been so allocated; and that, when the provisions committed to the Scottish Standing Committee and the provisions committed to Standing Committee D have been reported to the House, the Bill shall be considered as if it had been reported to the House as a whole.—[Mr. Selwyn Lloyd.]
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House of Commons (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House of Commons. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments. There are no standing committees in the House of Lords.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
