Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee are examining the Government’s Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 13 May 2021. If passed, this Bill would replace the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) as the law governing the triggering of general elections for the UK Parliament. This Committee and the House of Lords Constitution Committee reported on the FTPA last September, and the draft Bill was considered by the Joint Committee on the FTPA, which reported in March. In response, the Government made a small number of changes to the draft Bill prior to introduction. The Committee will now examine the Bill as introduced and question the Government on outstanding issues following pre-legislative scrutiny, and examine whether the Government’s approach as laid out in the Bill will establish a robust system for calling elections in the longer term.