When can I submit amendments

Amendments can be submitted at three different stages of a bill’s progress:

• committee stage: you can submit amendments for committee stage as soon as the second reading debate has finished (you can hand your amendment to the Clerks at the Table in the Chamber immediately after second reading if you want)
• report stage: you can submit amendments for report stage as soon as the committee stage has finished
• Lords amendments: when a bill has been amended by the Lords and returned to the Commons for consideration of Lords amendments (there is more information on Lords amendments in a separate section of the Guide)

At committee and report stages the deadline for submitting amendments is three working days before the relevant part of the Bill is due to be considered.

Amendments submitted after the deadline are not usually selected for debate.

At third reading, the only amendments that can be made are to correct minor errors of wording (for example, a typo in the bill). These are called verbal amendments. They are very unusual and can’t be used to make significant changes.