The 2007 Legislative Programme was drawn up by the
Government of the United Kingdom for the
parliamentary session beginning 6 November 2007
and ending on the 22 July 2008. The
Legislative Programme was compiled by
Gordon Brown's government, approved by his
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
, and laid out in the
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...
on the first day of the parliamentary session by the
Monarch.
Unlike previous years, the Government outlined a draft legislative programme on 11 July 2007. This was done, according to a statement by
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, because "it is now right in the interests of good and open government and public debate that each year the Prime Minister make a summer statement to this House so that initial thinking, previously private, can now be the subject of widespread and informed public consultation."
Government Bills
The programme outlined 29
bills that the Government intended to introduce over the coming parliamentary session.
As of 21 June 2008, five had been enacted by
Royal Assent, 18 were in progress, and 7 were at draft stage and hadn't been submitted to Parliament.
The discrepancy between the 29 proposed bills in the Legislative Programme and the 30 bills listed below is caused by the
Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008, which was introduced as emergency legislation by
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
Alistair Darling in February 2008 in order to
nationalise Northern Rock.
Before being submitted to Parliament, a draft is written by the Government. This becomes a bill in Parliament and passes through both houses in 9 sequential
stages, finally achieving
Royal Assent and being enacted as law (
Act).
It passes through one house (five stages) and then the other (four stages), and may start in either the
House of Commons or the
House of Lords.
If the bill is rejected at any stage, it does not pass to the next stage in the process.
In the first house, the bill passes through five stages 1st Reading (''1''), 2nd Reading (''2''), Committee (''3''), Report (''4''), and 3rd Reading (''5''). In the second house, the bill passes through four stages: 1st Reading (''6''), 2nd Reading (''7''), Committee (''8''), and Report (''9'').
References
{{reflist
Legislative programmes
Legislative Programme