Useful Information on Commons sitting over the next two weeks

INTRODUCTION

This document has been compiled by the Table Office as a guide to events likely to take place in and around the Chamber ahead of the King's Speech on Wednesday 17 July, and on subsequent days. The usual Order of Business and Summary Agenda will be published daily from Thursday 18 July.

Please note that the dates for swearing in will be appointed by the Speaker and that the dates given in this document are provisional, pending the election of the Speaker.

TUESDAY 9 JULY – THE FIRST MEETING OF THE HOUSE

The House will meet at 2.30pm. The ringing of division bells will indicate the start of the sitting.

Sir Edward Leigh, the Father of the House (the Member with longest continuous service who is not a Minister), will take the Clerk's chair at the Table before Black Rod arrives at about 2.40pm to summon Members to the House of Lords. Sir Edward will then walk to the House of Lords, accompanied by the Clerk and followed by frontbenchers from both sides and any other Members who wish to do so. In the House of Lords, a Royal Commission will be read directing Members to choose a Speaker.

Election of the Speaker

Members return to the Commons Chamber where Sir Edward will resume his place to preside over the election of a Speaker.

If the former Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, indicates that he is willing to be chosen as Speaker, Sir Edward will call a Member to move a Motion that he take the Chair as Speaker.

If the Motion is agreed to by the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle will take the Chair as Speaker-elect, and, after expressing thanks and calling some senior Members for brief congratulatory speeches, he will suspend the sitting for a short time.

Members of the House will then go to the House of Lords to receive Royal Approbation of its choice of a Speaker, and on returning, Members will begin to swear in: first the Speaker, then Sir Edward, members of the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet, other privy counsellors and other Ministers, then other Members by length of service. The television screens (known as annunciators) throughout the Parliamentary estate will provide information on the sequence.

The timings for swearing in will be confirmed after the election of the Speaker.

Further guidance for Members on the swearing in process is available on ParliNet, as well as from the Table Office and Information Hub. See below for locations and opening hours.

If the Motion that Sir Lindsay Hoyle take the Chair as Speaker is not agreed to, Sir Edward will adjourn the House until 2.30pm the following day, when an election of a Speaker by secret ballot will take place.

SUBSEQUENT DAYS

Wednesday 10 July

If the former Speaker has been re-elected, the House is expected to meet at 11.30am to continue the swearing in of Members.

If the former Speaker has not been re-elected, the House will meet at 2.30pm and a secret ballot will take place to elect a new Speaker. Arrangements for Royal Approbation of the House's choice of Speaker and for the dates and times of swearing in will then be made.

The dates shown below for swearing in are provisional, based on practice in previous Parliaments, and will be confirmed after the election of the Speaker.

Thursday 11 July

The House is expected to meet at 9.30am for swearing in.

Friday 12 July

The House is not expected to meet.

Monday 15 July

The House is expected to meet at 2.30pm for swearing in.

Tuesday 16 July

The House is expected to meet at 11.30am for swearing in. This is likely to be the best opportunity for new Members who have not already done so to take the oath or affirm. New Members should aim to swear in before the King's Speech.

WEDNESDAY 17 JULY – THE STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT

The State Opening of Parliament will take place on Wednesday 17 July. The House will meet at 11.25am for the King's Speech. Once Black Rod has summoned the Commons, Members may follow the Speaker and party leaders to hear the speech delivered in the House of Lords. Afterwards, if required, the House will meet at 2.00pm for swearing in before the start of the King's Speech debate at 2.30pm.

The debate takes place on a Motion formally thanking the King for his speech and will be followed by an end-of-day adjournment debate (see below for further information).

Sitting days after the King's Speech

The debate on the King's Speech usually lasts for six sitting days. The Speaker usually announces the subjects to be debated on each day at the start of the debate on the first day.

On the final day of the debate on the King's Speech, the House votes on the Motion. There may be votes on amendments to the Motion on the penultimate and final days.

The King's Speech debate is the first opportunity for maiden speeches. Further guidance on the King's Speech and maiden speeches is available on ParliNet, as well as from the Table Office and the Information Hub.

From the day after State Opening (Thursday 18 July), an Order of Business and Summary Agenda setting out each day's business in the Chamber will be published daily.

These and other House business papers can be obtained online, on the House Papers app, in hard copy from the Vote Office or from the Information Hub.

END-OF-DAY ADJOURNMENT DEBATES AND DEBATES IN WESTMINSTER HALL

End-of-day adjournment debates and debates in Westminster Hall are allocated by ballots run by the Speaker's Office, but applications should be made to the Table Office.

Deadlines for applications for end-of-day adjournment debates will be provided in an updated edition of this note.

Debates in Westminster Hall will commence after the conclusion of the debate on the King's Speech. The rota for Departments responding in Westminster Hall and the deadline for the first ballot for Westminster Hall debates will be published in the Announcements section of the Order Paper when the timings for the debate on the King's Speech have been confirmed.

Members can submit an application via MemberHub (the online tabling portal). Any Member wishing to submit an application who does not yet have access to MemberHub should contact the Table Office (ext. 3302/3303 or tableoffice@parliament.uk).

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS AND EARLY DAY MOTIONS

Deadlines for tabling oral Questions will be set out in an updated edition of this note once the dates of the King's Speech debate and Summer Adjournment have been confirmed.

Written Parliamentary Questions and Early Day Motions (EDMs) can be submitted via MemberHub from 9.00am on Tuesday 9 July. However, they are not formally tabled until the day of State Opening.

As all Questions submitted from 9 to 17 July are only formally tabled on 17 July, the usual daily limit on tabling written Questions via MemberHub applies to that period: up to 20 written Questions may be tabled via MemberHub. Up to five of these may be Named Day Questions, which have a specific date set for answer (the earliest date for answer for Named Day Questions is two clear days from the day of tabling e.g. the earliest date for answer for Named Day Questions tabled on Wednesday 17 July will be Monday 22 July). The remainder are Ordinary Questions, which usually receive an answer within two weeks.