To ask the Leader of the House if she will commission and publish an independent assessment of the effect of programming on the passage of Government legislation, including information on (a) the number of Government amendments made at Third Reading in the House of Lords and (b) the length of time taken between introduction and enactment of Government bills (i) in the last three years and (ii) in the last three years before the introduction of programming. (180193)

The effect of programming of Government legislation has been the subject of number of reports by the Modernisation and Procedure Committees of the House and therefore it is not proposed to commission an independent audit.

The total number of amendments, including Government amendments, to Government Bills at Lords Third Reading in the following Sessions were:

These figures are not broken down into ‘Government’ and ‘non-Government’ amendments, and it is important to remember that some amendments might have been tabled by a non-Government peer but inspired by the Government and that some amendments may have been tabled by the Government but in response to concerns raised by an MP or peer.

Information about the interval between introduction and enactment of legislation for Government Bills in previous Sessions is a matter of public record, which is contained in the Library’s Sessional Information Digests available at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmsid.htm