HOUSE OF LORDS - United Kingdom Parliament

CHAPTER 3
SITTINGS AND DOCUMENTS
OF THE HOUSE
3.01 The House usually sits for public business on Mondays and
Tuesdays at 2.30 p.m., on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. and on Thursdays at
11 a.m. The House also sits on Fridays at 10 a.m. when pressure of
business makes it necessary. It is a firm convention that the House
normally rises by about 10 p.m. on Mondays to Wednesdays, by about
7 p.m. on Thursdays, and by about 3 p.m. on Fridays. The time of
meeting of the House can be varied to meet the convenience of the
House. In exceptional circumstances the House has met on Saturday and
on Sunday. 1
3.02 Except after a dissolution, the parliamentary session normally
begins and ends in November.
3.03 The House breaks for recesses as follows:
over Christmas and New Year (usually two weeks);
sometimes in late February (up to one week);
at Easter (one or two weeks);
over the Spring Bank Holiday (one week); and
in the summer (between July and September 2 or October).
Lord Speaker’s procession and the Mace
3.04 Before each day’s sitting the Lord Speaker walks in procession
from her room to the Chamber, preceded by the Mace. 3 During the
procession, doorkeepers and security staff ensure that the route is
unobstructed. The procession crosses the Prince’s Chamber and moves
1 e.g. the House sat on a Saturday and a Sunday at the outbreak of the Second World War and
in 1982 met on a Saturday to discuss the situation in the Falkland Islands: LJ (1938–39) 383–4,
(1981–82) 216. The House attended the State Funeral for Sir Winston Churchill in St Paul’s
Cathedral on Saturday 30 January 1965.
2 Procedure 3rd Rpt 2003–04.
3 The procession consists of a Doorkeeper, followed by the Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms (the
Yeoman Usher) or Principal Doorkeeper bearing the Mace, followed by the Lord Speaker. In
the Prince’s Chamber, Black Rod joins the end of the procession. Procedure 4th Rpt 2005–06.
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