This Library Note provides background reading in advance of the second reading of the Energy Bill [HL] in the House of Lords, on 22 July 2015.
Energy Bill [HL] (HL Bill 56 of 2015–16) (295KB PDF)
This Library Note provides background information to the Energy Bill and a brief summary of its main provisions.
The Bill implements a number of the recommendations of the Wood Review into maximising the economic recovery of petroleum from the UK’s continental shelf. In so doing it would establish the Oil and Gas Authority as an independent regulator and transfer a number of additional functions to it from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Additionally, the Bill would implement the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to alter the planning law on onshore windfarms and to end any new subsidies for them under the Renewables Obligation.
Energy Bill [HL] (HL Bill 56 of 2015–16) (295KB PDF)
The Sovereign Grant Bill is a government bill which would amend how the sovereign grant is set. This is a grant paid to the King to support the work of the sovereign. The bill would enable the size of the sovereign grant to be reduced following the completion of a 10-year works project on Buckingham Palace. The bill received cross-party support and was not amended in the House of Commons.
The Commercial Payments Bill [HL] seeks to tackle late payments to small businesses. It would impose minimum payment periods for invoices, prohibit the use of retentions in construction contracts and provide the small business commissioner with greater powers. The bill received an unopposed second reading in the House of Lords on 9 June 2026. 30 government amendments were made to the bill at committee stage.
![Commercial Payments Bill [HL]: Progress in the Lords](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/Business-VIGs-568x426.jpg)
The Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill that would prevent developers and building owners from recovering remediation costs for systemic defects from protected leaseholders in residential buildings containing any leasehold properties, with no minimum height or storey threshold. Systemic defects would include unsafe cladding and structural deficiencies. The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the bill at second reading on 11 September 2026.
![Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 18 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Housing-568x426.png)