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.

• 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 PBC for more detailed clause by clause scrutiny. 

What happened in the Public Bill Committee?

A group of 23 MPs was proposed by Leadbeater and agreed by the House to sit on the Public Bill Committee, to go through the bill clause-by-clause, scrutinising the wording and proposing amendments. The size of the committee – larger than the usual 18 – reflected the contentious nature of the topic and its membership was selected to reflect the balance of opinion among MPs who participated in the second reading debate, as well as two Minsters (Health and Justice). 

Five senior backbenchers were appointed to chair the committee – two had supported the bill at second reading, two had opposed it and one did not vote. The House of Commons formally appointed the members while the Speaker appointed the chairs, as is usual for any bill committee. 

PBCs usually meet on Wednesday mornings but because of the contentious nature of the Terminally Ill Adults Bill and the amount of evidence MPs decided to consider, to inform their scrutiny, the bill committee met on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays while the House was sitting. The committee held its first meeting on 21 January to agree on its timetable but  was not able to begin formal consideration of the bill until after 22 January when the government introduced and the Commons agreed a ‘money resolution’ to authorise public spending associated with the bill. 

In an unprecedented step, MPs granted the committee the power to take oral and written evidence before it began its clause-by-clause scrutiny. Over three days of evidence sessions, on 28, 29 and 30 January, more than 50 expert witnesses gave testimony. The transcripts of this oral evidence and the written evidence the PBC received is published on the committee webpage. 

The committee began clause-by-clause scrutiny of the bill on 11 February. Unlike with government bills, there was no limit on how long this committee could spend considering the bill, although concluding committee scrutiny in time to take advantage of the first Friday available for a PMB to receive its report stage will have been a consideration for Leadbeater. Many PMBs receive just one day of scrutiny in committee, but this bill received almost 90 hours of debate over 29 sittings.  ¹⁵ Kim Leadbeater, ‘Kim Leadbeater gives update on Assisted Dying Bill, Press Conference, Sky News 2nd April 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO0dWA7XLZw&ab_channel=SkyNews   

There were 29 groups of amendments in the Chair’s provisional selection in PBC. As MPs had agreed the principle of the bill at second reading, the committee focused on improving the bill rather than revisiting the principle of assisted dying. Lucy Powell, Leader of the House confirmed that the government would engage with the PBC with the aim of ensuring the bill, if ultimately passed, would be practical and enforceable.  ¹⁶ Business of the House’, 28 November 2024, HC Deb 757, 925–926  The amended version of the bill was reported back to the House on 28 March 2025. 

Key amendments included:

• A Voluntary Assisted Dying Commission will be led by a Commissioner to be appointed by the Prime Minister, within 12 months.
   
• The Commissioner will, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officers for England and Wales and the EHRC, produce an annual report.
   
• Doctors are explicitly prevented from discussing assisted dying in isolation from other options for example palliative care, symptom management and psychological support.
   
• Applicant’s submissions to use the process will be considered by a multi-disciplinary panel of experts, a senior lawyer (which could be a High Court Judge), a consultant psychiatrist and a social worker. This replaces the single role of a High Court Judge in the original version of the bill.
   
• Independent advocates will be available for individuals who may require them for example people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health conditions.
   
• As the bill also extends to Wales, where health is devolved, the new bill imposes a duty on the Secretary of State in England, and gives powers to ministers in Wales, to ensure that voluntary assisted dying services are provided. 

When will MPs have the opportunity to consider the bill again?

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is scheduled to return to the Commons for report stage on 16 May. Report stage was originally due on 25 April but Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor, postponed the date to give MPs more time to consider significant changes made during committee stage and the government’s impact assessment which had not then been published. On 2 May the government published the impact assessment setting out the likely impact, including cost to the NHS, of the bill as amended.
Conservative MP David Davis, a supporter of the bill, has called on the government to provide four days for report stage, arguing that the House needs the time ‘to get this right’,  ²¹ ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’, 29 November 2024, HC Deb, Uncorrected transcript.  but the government has suggested that it has no plans to provide more time.  ²² Gover D, ‘How to improve parliamentary scrutiny of the assisted dying bill’, The Constitution Unit blog, 26 November 2024, https://constitution-unit.com/2024/11/26/how-to-improve-parliamentary-scrutiny-of-the-assisted-dying-bill/

Report stage is the first chance for all MPs – not just those who served on the committee – to amend the bill – proposing and debating amendments or new clauses, and voting on proposed changes to the bill. The chair typically groups similar new clauses and amendments together, so they can be debated together as a group.  Dr Daniel Gover’s research has found that since the start of the 2019 session all PMBs have had their amendments grouped into a single debate.  ²³ Gover D, Assisted dying bill enters parliament – how likely is it to become law?’, The Conversation, 16 October 2024, https://theconversation.com/assisted-dying-bill-enters-parliament-how-likely-is-it-to-become-law-241498  The Hansard Society has suggested that if the chair were to divide the amendments into more than one group, they might be  grouped under ‘eligibility criteria’ and ‘safeguards’.  ²⁴ ‘Selection and grouping of amendments’ www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/briefings/assisted-dying-bill-guide-to-private-members-bill-process#what-will-happen-at-report-stage

Once a group has been debated, the Chair will select specific new clauses and amendments for separate decision. By established practice the Chair is likely to select for decision all new Clauses and amendments tabled by the Member in charge of the bill – Kim Leadbeater. Unlike with a government bill, these questions cannot be combined and voted on together without the leave of the House. This means that quite a bit of the time after each debate could be spent on divisions.

At the start of the debate the chair will set out the format of proceedings, including how the amendments have been grouped, or introduce a formal time limit. There are not normally time limits on speeches in PMB debates because relatively few MPs attend, but because many MPs are likely to want to speak on this bill, the chair may encourage shorter remarks or introduce a formal time limit. At second reading, rather than imposing a formal time limit, the Speaker requested that MPs keep their speeches to under eight minutes – a similar request could be made at report stage. The Chair will choose who to call to speak, as always in calling MPs they will be mindful of having a balance of opinions and will likely want to maximise participation.  

If report consideration is not complete by 14:30 then the bill will likely be put down for the next available sitting day – currently 13 June – unless another PMB reported from a PBC names that day. It’s unlikely that there will be another bill at report stage on that day as none of the other nine PMBs have gone to PBC yet. 

As with second reading, MPs can use a closure motion to bring the debate to a close and force a vote before the clock runs down. This would need to happen for each group of amendments, if there is only one group of amendments then the closure motion only needs to be introduced and won once. Winning the motion requires a simple majority and at least 100 MPs to vote in favour, if the motion is lost then the debate resumes and the bill could be talked out.  

If report stage is completed, the bill proceeds to third reading where MPs vote on whether to support the bill in its amended form and send it to the Lords for consideration. Report stage and third reading often take place on the same day with the combined debate lasting up to five hours. If time runs out before third reading it can be rescheduled for the next sitting Friday. If the bill is rejected at this point, it falls entirely.
 

What happens to the bill in the House of Lords?

If passed by the Commons at third reading. The bill will move to the House of Lords where it follows similar legislative stages. The last scheduled date that the Commons can consider a PMB in the 2024-25 session is Friday 11 July. If the bill is passed at third reading on 13 June then the House of Lords will have less than one month to scrutinise the bill. However, debate time is more flexible in the Lords – they are not restricted to Fridays – and can allocate more sittings to consider the bill if they choose. 

Royal Assent and implementation

If both Houses approve the bill it will be sent for Royal Assent. At this stage, the King formally signifies his assent to the bill and it becomes an Act. 

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.