This Week in Westminster: Will the government fit the bill?

Bills, Bills, Bills. The mechanism for law-making by which the government will build its record to take into the next General Election.

It’s no surprise then that there’s been a number of new Bills introduced to parliament in recent weeks. Ministers well and truly have their feet under the table now and their departments are being tasked with making inroads into the government’s legislative agenda. Which means that MPs and Peers from all parties have been busy rigorously scrutinising the proposals coming before them.

The advantage of having such a healthy parliamentary majority is that the government won’t have to worry about getting its legislation passed. That’s good news for Keir Starmer, who will be desperate to start claiming some wins in the hope of alleviating the pressure of Reform snapping at Labour’s heels in the polls, particularly ahead of an expectedly tricky Spending Review coming up in March, and with one eye on campaigning gradually starting for devolved elections in Scotland and Wales next year.

Despite the relative ease at which legislation will be voted through, there are multiple stages in both the Houses of Commons and Lords that it needs to navigate becoming law. This involves hours of debate and evidence gathering as MPs and Peers attempt to shape the Bills to be as effective as possible. 

Ultimately though, the government will always get the last word.

Border Security, Asylum & Immigration Bill

‘Smash the criminal gangs’ was a frequent line from Keir Starmer during the election campaign and it appears he wants to use this Bill to try and do just that. The legislation aims to introduce new counter-terrorism style powers for law enforcement agencies against smuggling gangs. This includes giving Border Force the powers to seize phones and laptops from migrants who arrive in the UK on boats and in lorries, without the need to arrest them, and will make it a criminal offence to endanger life during crossings on the Channel.

It also will repeal the previous government’s Rwanda scheme and large swathes of the Illegal Migration Act, although some aspects of it will be kept, including around detention powers and a ban on illegal migrants being able to claim protections as victims of modern slavery. 

Other measures include:

• Establishing the role of Border Security Commander, a civil servant designated by the Secretary of State to oversee border security functions.
• Introducing Offences Related to Immigration Crime, including for supplying, handling, and collecting information or articles used in immigration crime, with penalties including imprisonment.
• Criminalising actions that endanger lives during sea crossings to the UK, with specific penalties for such offences.
• Authorised officers are granted powers to search, seize, and retain electronic devices suspected to contain information related to immigration crime.
• Provisions for sharing customs information, trailer registration data, and other relevant information among various authorities.
• New offences and serious crime prevention orders are introduced to address the possession and use of articles in serious crime, with provisions for electronic monitoring and interim order.

The legislation received its first debate in parliament on Monday, passing its first hurdle comfortably by 333 votes to 109. It will now be examined in more depth by a Public Bill Committee over the coming weeks and BASW will be submitting written evidence to this process.

Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill

This Bill, which seeks to improve safeguarding and welfare of children in England*, with part one focused on children’s social care and part two on education, has been moving through parliament at pace.

It was first debated by MPs on the floor of the house in early January and since then has undergone evidence sessions and line-by-line scrutiny by a Public Bill Committee, with the final sitting taking place on Tuesday past.

It will now return to the floor of the house for more amendments and debate from all MPs sometime in the coming weeks, before moving across to the House of Lords.

Read BASW England’s work on this Bill here.

*Social care and education are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.   

Renter’s Rights Bill

The government is aiming to reform the private rental sector for tenants in England* by providing them with greater security through the Renter’s Rights Bill. Among other measures, the legislation will end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, limit rent increases and ensure all rental properties meet minimum quality standards.

This Bill is very far on in the legislative process, having already passed the commons stages and is currently sitting with the House of Lords to make further amendments. The government will be hoping it will become law in the Spring.

*Housing is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Mental Health Bill

An unusually quiet week for this legislation which intends to reform the Mental Health Act for England and Wales. Unlike its counterparts, it has begun its parliamentary passage in the House of Lords before MPs will engage with it.

The legislation was heavily debated by Peers throughout January, with amendments proposed but not voted on. This is fairly typical for committee stage in the Lords, as amendments are used more for gauging the government’s intentions and putting issues on their radar for addressing at later stages.

The next committee sitting for the Bill is on Monday, 24 February. Additional sittings may well be required depending on how far they get with the remaining amendments, before it will move to Report Stage and Third Reading for further debate.

Read BASW’s work on this Bill here.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Unlike the other Bills mentioned above, this is a Private Member’s Bill, which means it has been proposed by a backbench MP and not the government.

In fact, given that assisted dying is a conscience vote in parliament (meaning that political parties do not direct MPs to vote one way or another) the government remains neutral on this issue.

The cross-party committee of MPs examining the Bill heard oral evidence from a range of witnesses in January and this week begun its detailed line-by-line scrutiny. The big news for social work was that Kim Leadbeater, the lead sponsor of the Bill, intends to table an amendment that involves expert panels, which will include social workers, in the process following sign off from two independent doctors. This multi-disciplinary approach is in line with what BASW has been advocating to MPs since the proposals were introduced. 

As expected, a significant number of other amendments have also been tabled, which will require robust consideration and debate amongst the MPs that sit on the committee. The committee will set twice a week to carry out this thorough process, with many expecting it to conclude by end of April. At this point, the amended Bill will return to the floor of the house for debate and vote. Of course, given that it’s not a government bill, there is no guarantee that it will proceed beyond that.

A separate Bill on assisted dying is currently being debated in the Scottish Parliament too, which SASW has been engaging with MSPs on. 

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You can follow all of BASW’s engagement with politicians, parliamentary briefings and positions on these Bills on our BASW at Westminster webpage or our rolling news pages. You can also contact your MP to discuss any of the above issues with them directly.

For more information, please contact jonny.adamson@basw.co.uk