What are the next stages for Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill?

What has happened so far?

PMBs go through the same legislative stages as government bills. However, a key difference in House of Commons procedure for considering them is that, unlike government-initiated bills, they are not subject to a programme order, which sets out the details of the stages and timetable of a bill after second reading. This means there is less certainty about exactly when further stages will take place.

In the House of Lords PMBs are usually considered on Friday sittings but the House of Lords has control over its own timetable and can, and in this case, has extended the time for debate into earlier in the week. The government can also offer up government time, if it chooses to, to give more time for consideration. The chief whip in the House of Lords has said the government will not do this for the Assisted Dying Bill before the end of the session. 

The process so far:

• After being drawn first in the 2024-25 PMB ballot, Kim Leadbeater introduced her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill into the House of Commons on 16 October; the bill received its first reading – a formal stage when the title of the bill is read but there is no debate.
• The bill received its second reading on 29 November, following a debate which provided the opportunity for MPs to debate the principle of the legislation. Passing this stage was a key hurdle - the bill avoided being ‘talked out’ (filibustered) and MPs voted by 330 to 275 – on an unwhipped vote – for it to continue to be considered by parliament.
• Following second reading, the Commons sent the bill to a public bill committee (PBC) for more detailed clause by clause scrutiny.
• The bill returned to the House of Commons for report stage which very unusually took place over three days. It initially returned on 16 May but because members did not have time to consider both groups of amendments the debate continued on 13 June and then returned on 20 June for outstanding votes from report stage before it had its third reading – which it passed. 
• The bill received second reading in the House of Lords on 12 and 19 September 2025.
• Due to an amendment at second reading, a Lords select committee was tasked with taking evidence on the bill, before the bill commenced its committee stage.
• The bill began committee stage in the House of Lords on 14 November 2025 where over 1,200 amendments have been tabled. Extra sitting days have been added to give members more time to consider the vast number of amendments. 

What happens to the bill in the House of Lords?

The bill is now with the House of Lords. Due to the record number of over 200 Peers who signed up to speak, the bill received two days of second reading on 12 and 19 September.  

The bill will follow similar legislative stages to that in the Commons however there are some key differences:  

• Scrutiny of delegated powers – The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee which reports on every bill before the Lords, including PMBs published its report on 8 September ⁷ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/lddelreg/171/17102.htm . The committee highlighted significant concerns with some clauses giving ministers “sweeping, unspecified and unjustified powers’.  
• Scrutiny of constitutional implications – The Lords Constitution Committee which examines the implications of public bills reported on 11 September ⁸ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ldselect/ldconst/177/177.pdf . The report notes that as the Salisbury convention does not apply – answering the question of whether Lords could block the bill –  that as the bill is a PMB dealing with a morally significant subject that it is “constitutionally appropriate for the House to scrutinise the Bill, and if so minded vote to amend, or reject it.”
• Control of the timetable – In the Commons PMBs are generally restricted to Fridays for consideration (13 are set out at the start of a session but more can be added if the session is extended). The House of Lords is more flexible; business is timetabled by the Government Whips’ Office in consultation with the usual channels/sponsoring peers; they may choose to schedule PMBs on any day, although the government may be unwilling to give up its time.
• Intervals between stages - Peers expect suitable intervals between each bill stage. There is a minimum recommended interval of two weekends between first and second reading, 14 days between second reading and committee stage, another 14 days between committee and report for bills of considerable length, and three clear sitting days between report and third reading.  
• Amendments – Unlike in the Commons, amendments are not selected by the Lord Speaker – the house debates and decides on every amendment so we may see some amendments not debated in the Commons reintroduced, and the process may take much longer.  Amendments will be provisionally grouped by the Government Whips’ Office but, unlike in the Commons, any peer may de-group their amendments so they are debated separately. 

What happens next? 

An amendment at second reading meant that a Lords select committee was established to take evidence on the bill and report no later than 7 November. Committee stage then commenced on 14 November. At committee, the House must agree each clause of the bill and may propose amendments. The length of committee stage depends on the number of amendments – the 2014 bill had over 200 amendments, this time the Lords have tabled over 1,200 – and how often peers choose to speak (there is no restriction on speaking more than once to each question in committee). 

The government Whips' Office originally proposed four days for committee stage, due to the number of amendments the Lords has now set aside every sitting Friday until the end of the session to consider the bill – 19 days in total – and has extended sitting hours on those days. After committee, there is report stage. In the Lords, this is where the votes take place followed by third reading, which is when peers may decide to vote down the bill. If not, then the bill returns to the Commons to consider the amendments. Once all amendments have been dealt with – which might require some back and forth known as ping pong – then the bill is sent for Royal Assent. At this stage, the King formally signifies his assent to the bill and it becomes an Act.  

Unlike a government bill, a private members bill cannot be carried over to the next parliamentary session. That means the bill must receive Royal Assent before the end of the session – expected to be in May – or it will fall and not become law. At the current pace, it is almost impossible for the bill to make it through the remaining stages before the end of the session. Supporters of the bill have raised concerns about the number of amendments tabled in the Lords and the time needed to consider them. Kim Leadbeater MP and Lord Falconer have suggested that if the bill does not make it through its legislative stages in time then it could be reintroduced – either as another PMB or if the government made time for it – in the next session and use the Parliament Acts to force the legislation through. 

Implementation

As currently drafted, the Act’s main provisions would not come into effect immediately but either four years after Royal Assent or earlier if determined by the health secretary.

During this period, further policy development would be needed. This is because a number of decisions required for operationalisation of the Act would be delegated to the secretary of state, including the power to determine the required qualifications for coordinating doctors, the forms of identification patients would have to provide, the substances that could be used to bring about death, the records that would have to be kept by doctors and the codes of practice that would govern the assisted dying process.

How is assisted dying being legislated elsewhere?

Legislation to allow assisted dying has been approved in the Crown Dependencies of Jersey and the Isle of Man. In both places the legislation still requires the UK government to process the legislation for it to receive Royal Assent. The legislation in the Isle of Man being approved by the Tynwald – parliament of the Isle of Man – in March 2025 but the UK government has yet to approve it. The legislation in Jersey was approved by the States Assembly in February 2026.

The legislation in the Isle of Man was introduced as a private members bill, in a similar process to Kim Leadbeater’s bill. However in Jersey the legislation was introduced by the government of Jersey to the States Assembly after a programme of consultation which included a citizens’ jury in 2021 which itself was convened in response to a public petition. The citizens’ jury recommended assisted dying be permitted under specific circumstances in Jersey.

The Scottish parliament is current considering its own legislation on assisted dying. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced as a Members Bill – similar to a PMB this is a proposal for legislation by an individual MSP who is not a government minister. This bill is in its final stages and will be put to a final vote sometime in March.

The different legislation introduced in Scotland, the UK and approved in Jersey and the Isle of Man are not the same as each other. There are different considerations for example on residency requirements to access assisted dying and approval processes.

In Wales, the Senedd voted in favour of assisted dying services being made available on the Welsh NHS – a devolved matter – which means if the parliament in Westminster passes legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales it can be provided by the NHS in Wales. If they had not approved it, assisted dying would have only been available through private providers in Wales. 

The Northern Ireland Assembly is not considering any legislation relating to assisted dying.