Commons second reading of Children and Families Bill
25 February 2013
MPs debated the second reading of the Children and Families Bill in the House of Commons on Monday 25 February 2013.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education, Edward Timpson, opened the debate.
Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Stephen Twigg, responded on behalf of the Opposition.
The Bill passed without a division and will now be considered by a Public Bill Committee.
- Watch Parliament TV: Second reading debate of the Children and Families Bill
- Read Commons Hansard: Second reading debate of the Children and Families Bill
- Read current Parliamentary material in Topics: Children and Families
Summary of the Children and Families Bill
The Bill seeks to reform legislation relating to adoption and children in care; aspects of the family justice system; children and young people with special educational needs; the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England; statutory rights to leave and pay for parents and adopters; time off work for ante-natal care; and the right to request flexible working.
Progress of the Bill
The Bill was introduced into the House of Commons on 4 February 2013.
The Bill was debated at second reading on 25 February 2013.
This Bill has been sent to Public Bill Committee. The first sitting of the committee will be on a date to be announced.
Keep up to date with all the proceedings and documentation, including amendment papers, on the Children and Families Bill and find out how a bill becomes an Act of Parliament.
Have your say on the Children and Families Bill
Public Reading is an initiative to give members of the public the opportunity to provide their views on Bills before they are made into law.
Comments on the Children and Families Bill will be made available to the Committee of MPs responsible for examining the Bill in detail so that they can take them into account when deciding whether to make changes to the Bill.
The Public Reading for this Bill will close on 26 February to allow time for comments to be collated and made available to MPs on the Bill Committee.
House of Commons Library analysis
The House of Commons Library produces briefing papers to inform MPs of key issues. The papers contain factual information and a range of opinions on each subject, and aim to be politically impartial. The Library has published a briefing paper for second reading.
Further reading
The following documents are relevant to the second reading debate:
- Sixth Report from the Education Committee, Pre-legislative scrutiny: Special Educational Needs, HC 631
- Fourth Report from the Justice Committee, Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Children and Families Bill, HC 739
- Sixth Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Reform of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner: draft legislation, HC 811
- Children and Families Bill 2013: Contextual Information and Responses to Pre-Legislative Scrutiny, Department for Education, Cm 8540 (Department for Education - external site)
What happens at second reading?
At second reading the House debates the whole principle of the bill. It usually takes place no sooner than two weekends after first reading.
The Member in charge or the Minister moves the motion 'that the bill be now read a second time'. MPs then debate the bill.
At the end of the debate the Speaker determines whether there are any objections to the motion being debated and asks for the Ayes and Noes.
Members voice their opinion, and if no objections are made, the bill passes second reading without a vote. If the Speaker believes Members have voiced disagreement, a division is called and a vote taken.
What happens next?
If the Bill passes second reading, and the programme motion is agreed, the Bill will progress to a Public Bill Committee which will conclude by 23 April 2013.
The programme motion would also schedule the report and third reading stages to take place over one day. If the carry over motion is agreed the Bill will be resumed in the next session of Parliament if not previously concluded in this session.