Types of bills

A Bill is a proposal for a new law. Most Bills are introduced into Parliament by the Government; some will be implementing policies that were promised in its action manifesto and others will be responding to economic and social issues as they develop.

There are two main kinds of Bill – Public Bills and Private Bills.

Public Bills are intended to affect the public as a whole and change the general law. They are Government Bills and Private Members' Bills. The majority of Public Bills that become Acts of Parliament are introduced by a government Minister and are known as Government Bills. When a new government comes to power after a general election it will normally have a number of policies it wishes to put into effect. Where necessary it will try to change the law by introducing Bills into Parliament. Each Bill will be piloted through Parliament by a Minister from the appropriate Government Department. Government Bills usually succeed in getting through Parliament because the Government has a majority in the House of Commons. Private Members' Bills are sponsored by individual MPs. Many Private Members' Bills fail to complete their passage through Parliament, either through lack of support or, more likely, because of shortage of time. Government business is usually given priority and Private Members' Bills can get squeezed out. To be successful a Private Members' Bill ideally needs to be non-controversial and have the support of the Government.

Private Bills are only intended to affect one particular area or organization. They are promoted by organizations outside the House (e.g. local authorities or companies) to obtain powers for themselves in excess of or in conflict with the general law. They should not be confused with Private Members' Bills, which are a type of Public Bill. In practice, only a few Private Bills are now considered each session.

Hybrid Bills are Public Bills which may affect the specific private rights of people or bodies. They are generally introduced by the Government, but are fairly rare.

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8 Who governs Britain?

The many definitions of the term “government” demonstrate that it is not easy to give a comprehensive description. Still more difficult is to understand the structure and operation of the whole machinery of the executive government.

However, let’s try. It seems that no less than three major British institutions are involved in the process. In the broader sense we may talk about all the politicians who have been appointed by the monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) to help run the country through Government Departments or to take on various other special responsibilities. There are normally about a hundred members of ‘the government’ in this sense. Although there are various ranks members of the government are usually known as ‘ministers’.

The other meaning of the term ‘government’ is more limited. It refers only to the most powerful of these politicians, namely the Prime Minister and the group of his closest advisors – the Cabinet. There are usually about twenty people in the Cabinet. Most of them are the heads of Government Departments.

Last but not least is the Privy Council. It is one of the oldest institutions of the British government and the Privy Council Office is the smallest autonomous Government Department with fewer than 50 members of staff. Today its main role is to advise the monarch on a range of matters such as the resolution of constitutional issues and the approval of Orders in Council, plus the granting of Royal Charters to public bodies. The most important task of the Privy Council today is performed by its Judicial Committee.

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