Committees

Procedure Committee launch inquiry into voting procedures in the House of Commons

24 July 2019

The House of Commons Procedure Committee has decided to inquire into the procedures the House of Commons uses for voting.

Background to the inquiry

Voting in the House typically takes place on a binary “yes/no” basis: the Chair puts a question and invites Members to call “aye” and “no” accordingly. If the Chair cannot determine which side is in the majority a division will be called. At certain times, and on certain types of question, a division may be deferred, with paper ballots being used for voting.

Voting in divisions

The House's current procedures have on occasion been open to criticism, because of the time taken in divisions and, on occasion, the conditions in which divisions have taken place.
The Committee has decided to examine whether existing procedures are working as well as they should.

Alternatives to aye/no voting

The Committee has also decided to examine alternatives to the present binary choice model of voting. On two occasions in March 2019 the House adopted a decision-making procedure intended to demonstrate the relative support across the House for several propositions relating to the UK's exit from the European Union (the so-called “indicative vote” procedure).

The Committee intends to review the operation of this procedure and to examine whether the House ought to adopt a set procedure for determining the relative popularity among Members of a number of options.

Proxy voting for parental absence

Concurrently with this inquiry, the Committee will be reviewing the present arrangements for proxy voting for parental absence: the Committee will issue a separate call for evidence on the operation of the system introduced by the House earlier this year, and will report to the House in time for a decision to be taken on the continuation of the present system in January 2020.

Relevant evidence submitted to this inquiry will be taken into account in the proxy voting review.

Chair's comments

Charles Walker OBE MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“The procedures the House uses to vote are crucial to its effective functioning. The Committee wants to look at what works well, and what could work better, in the House's present voting procedures.

“We encourage colleagues to tell us what works for them in the present system and what does not.

“The House has asked us to review the proxy voting system which it introduced in January on the basis of our recommendations: we will issue a specific call for evidence on this in the autumn, but will of course be looking at wider issues around voting in this review.

“We also intend to take a look at the ‘indicative vote' procedures the House used earlier this year to try and determine the strength of support in the House for various propositions. This is an opportunity to review those procedures and recommend what might work most effectively if there is a need for a similar exercise in the future.”

Terms of reference

The Committee invites evidence on the following issues:

Present procedures for voting

  • Present procedures for dividing the House, including the process of taking a division, the arrangements in the division lobbies, the recording of votes (including voting in deferred divisions), the arrangements for telling and the scheduling of votes and divisions
  • The desirability and/or feasibility of alternatives to current arrangements
  • What arrangements for divisions are being made in the temporary chamber to be established on the Northern Estate (Richmond House) during the Restoration and Renewal programme
  • What lessons can be learned from comparable chambers on the Westminster model and on other models

Procedures for voting on complicated propositions

  • Whether the procedure for making decisions in the House—by binary choices on a single question—is adequate to decide issues where there are a large number of competing propositions
  • What alternative models of decision making are available, and whether there are instructive examples from parliaments overseas
  • Whether alternative models are appropriate for deciding on
         o  Resolutions of the House with binding effect or which express the will of the House
         o  “indicative” votes intended to determine the prevailing view in the House on a variety of competing options
         o  Votes on a number of alternative propositions to a proposition set out in a Bill (in Committee or on Report)
  • How to ensure decisions under such procedures are taken in accordance with the general procedural principles under which the House operates

The deadline for submissions has been extended until Thursday 10 October 2019.

Further information

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