Contents
Chamber business
The House met at 2.30 pm.
Prayers
1Speaker's Statement: Bondi Beach attack
2Questions to the Secretary of State for Defence
3Urgent Questions: (1) NHS winter flu preparedness (Secretary Wes Streeting)
(2) Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy (Jess Phillips)
(3) Sudan: Humanitarian situation (Chris Elmore)
4Statement: Conviction of Jimmy Lai (Secretary Yvette Cooper)
5Employment Rights Bill: Consideration of Lords Message
Lords Amendments 120N and 120P to 120S
Motion made and Question proposed, That this House disagrees with the Lords in their Amendment 120N to Commons Amendment 120G and their Amendments 120P to 120S to Commons Amendment 120H.—(Kate Dearden.)
The Deputy Speaker announced a time limit on backbench speeches (Standing Order No. 47(1)).
Question put.
The House divided.
Division No. 392
Ayes: 311 (Tellers: Gregor Poynton, Deirdre Costigan)
Noes: 96 (Tellers: Sir Ashley Fox, Harriet Cross)
Question agreed to.
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83H(2)), That a Committee be appointed to draw up a Reason to be assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to their Amendment 120N to Commons Amendment 120G and their Amendments 120P to 120S to Commons Amendment 120H.
That Antonia Bance, Nesil Caliskan, Kate Dearden, Andrew Griffith, Susan Murray, Tom Rutland and Dr Jeevun Sandher be members of the Committee;
That Kate Dearden be the Chair of the Committee;
That three be the quorum of the Committee;
That the Committee do withdraw immediately.—(Taiwo Owatemi.)
Question agreed to.
6Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill: Second Reading
Bill read a second time.
7Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill: Programme
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)), That the following provisions shall apply to the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill:
Committal
(1) The Bill shall be committed to a Committee of the whole House.
Proceedings in Committee, on Consideration and on Third Reading
(2) Proceedings in Committee shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion two hours after their commencement.
(3) Any proceedings on Consideration and proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion three hours after the commencement of proceedings in Committee of the whole House.
(4) Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to proceedings in Committee of the whole House, to any proceedings on Consideration or to proceedings on Third Reading.
Other proceedings
(5) Any other proceedings on the Bill may be programmed.—(Jake Richards.)
Question agreed to.
8Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill: Money
King’s Recommendation signified.
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 52(1)(a)), That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill, it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of any increase attributable to the Act in the sums payable under or by virtue of the Industrial Development Act 1982 or the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 out of money so provided.—(Jake Richards.)
Question agreed to.
9Statutory Instruments: Motions for Approval
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), That the draft Building Safety Regulator (Establishment of New Body and Transfer of Functions etc.) Regulations 2026, which were laid before this House on 11 November, be approved.—(Jake Richards.)
Question agreed to.
A public petition from residents of the constituency of Rushcliffe relating to the Radcliffe-on-Trent to Cotgrave greenway was presented and read by James Naish.
Subject: Sudden cardiac death in young people (Chris Vince)
Motion made and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Jake Richards.)
At 10 pm, the Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 9(3)).
Resolved, That this House do now adjourn.—(Jake Richards.)
Adjourned at 10.21 pm until tomorrow.
Other Proceedings
Lords Messages
12Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill
The Lords agree to the Space Industry (Indemnities) Bill without amendment.
Changes to Notices Given
Order for Second Reading on Friday 23 January 2026, read and discharged.
Bill to be read a second time on Friday 13 February 2026.
Reasons Committees: Reports
14Employment Rights Bill: Reasons Committee
Kate Dearden (Chair) reported that the Committee had agreed the following Reason:
Lords Amendments 120N and 120P to 120S
Because it is appropriate to remove the limit on compensatory awards imposed by section 124 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
General Committees: Reports
15First Delegated Legislation Committee
Emma Lewell (Chair) reported the draft Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2025.
General Committees: Appointments
The Speaker appoints the Chair of General Committees and members of Programming Sub-Committees, and allocates Statutory Instruments to Delegated Legislation Committees.
The Committee of Selection nominates Members to serve on General Committees (and certain Members to serve on Grand Committees).
16First Delegated Legislation Committee (draft Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2025)
Members: Jade Botterill discharged and Mark Ferguson nominated in substitution.
Select Committees: Reports
(1) The work of the Prime Minister: Oral evidence, to be published (HC 1557);
(2) Correspondence from the Leader of the House and the Minister for the Cabinet Office relating to public inquiries and the scrutiny of recommendations: Written evidence, to be published
(Dame Meg Hillier).
18National Security Strategy (Joint Committee on)
(1) Subsea telecommunications cables: resilience and crisis preparedness: Government Response: First Special Report, to be printed (HC 1574);
(2) The National Security Strategy: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1045);
(3) The work of the National Security Adviser: Written evidence, to be published (HC 679)
(Matt Western).
19Public Accounts (Committee of)
(1) Ministry of Justice follow-up: Autumn 2025: Fifty-ninth Report, to be printed, with the formal minutes relating to the Report (HC 1240);
(2) Government’s use of external consultants: Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 1521);
(3) Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage: Written evidence, to be published (HC 351);
(4) Correspondence relating to the Committee’s previous Reports: Written evidence, to be published;
(5) Correspondence with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport relating to the National Youth Strategy: Written evidence, to be published;
(6) Costs of clinical negligence: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1234);
(7) Decommissioning Sellafield: Written evidence, to be published (HC 363);
(8) Department for Business and Trade Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24: Written evidence, to be published (HC 818);
(9) DHSC Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24: Written evidence, to be published (HC 639);
(10) Government support for biomass: Written evidence, to be published (HC 715);
(11) Government’s use of private finance for infrastructure: Written evidence, to be published (HC 821);
(12) Home-to-school transport: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1238);
(13) Increasing police productivity: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1239);
(14) NS&I’s transformation programme: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1237)
(Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown).
Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Speaker
Westminster Hall
The sitting began at 4.30 pm.
Debate on an e-petition (Standing Orders No. 10(1)(a) and No. 145A(7))
Resolved, That this House has considered e-petition 722903 relating to the Online Safety Act.—(Lewis Atkinson.)
Sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).
Adjourned at 6.58 pm until tomorrow.
Ms Nusrat Ghani
Chairman of Ways and Means
Papers Laid
Papers subject to Affirmative Resolution
1Financial Services and Markets
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Lucy Rigby)
Draft Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2026 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Alison McGovern)
Papers subject to Negative Resolution
(1) Atom Valley Northern Gateway Mayoral Development Corporation (Establishment) Order 2025 (SI, 2025, No. 1310), dated 11 December 2025 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
(2) Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation (Establishment) Order 2025 (SI, 2025, No. 1314), dated 11 December 2025 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
Other papers
4Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons
Report on research and development work relating to assistive technology for the period 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025 (by Act) (Dr Zubir Ahmed)
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: Statement of Progress under section 137 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (by Act) (Secretary Liz Kendall)
6Government Resources and Accounts (Audit of Non-profit-making Companies)
Report and Accounts of UK Sports Institute Limited for 2024–25, with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (by Statutory Instrument), to be printed (HC 1487) (Stephanie Peacock)
HMG Counter-Terrorism Disruptive Powers Report 2024 (by Command) (CP 1463) (Secretary Shabana Mahmood)
Report of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament for 2023–25 (by Act), to be printed (HC 1544) (Clerk of the House)
Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Investigation into car driving test waiting times (by Act), to be printed (HC 1484) (Clerk of the House)
(1) Account of Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Distribution for 2024–25, with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (by Act), to be printed (HC 1540) (Clerk of the House)
(2) Report and Accounts of the United Kingdom Sports Council Grant-in-Aid and National Lottery Distribution Fund for 2024–25, with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (by Act), to be printed (HC 1523) (Stephanie Peacock)
Treasury Minutes on Government Responses to the Forty-third to the Forty-sixth, Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Reports of the Committee of Public Accounts, Session 2024–26 (by Command) (CP 1469) (Dan Tomlinson)
SPEAKER’S CERTIFICATES
VOTING BY PROXY (STANDING ORDER NO. 39A)
(Variations to existing arrangements appear in bold.)
|
Member |
From |
To |
Proxy |
|
Ms Diane Abbott |
2 September |
31 March 2026 |
Apsana Begum (15 December to 6 January 2026),Bell Ribeiro-Addy (thereafter) |
|
Dan Norris |
16 May |
15 July 2026 |
Sir Nicholas Dakin |