The 2007 Legislative Programme was drawn up by the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

for the parliamentary session beginning 6 November 2007 and ending on the 22 July 2008. The Legislative Programme was compiled by

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

's government, approved by his Cabinet, 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 their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is opened. ...

on the first day of the parliamentary session by the

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

. Unlike previous years, the Government outlined a draft legislative programme on 11 July 2007. This was done, according to a statement by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

, 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 the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...

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

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 The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

or the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. 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