Parliamentary Agency

What are Parliamentary Agents?

We advise on:

• the promotion of Private Bills and Hybrid Bills;
• petitioning against Private Bills and Hybrid Bills;
• all aspects of Parliamentary procedure, including advising on appearing before select committees and special parliamentary procedure orders;
• drafting primary legislation and secondary legislation, as well as byelaws, rules and regulations; and
• drafting, or obtaining, Legislative Reform Orders and other statutory instruments

Our clients include a cross-section of Government departments, legislatures (including the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Government of Gibraltar), public sector bodies, charities, individuals and other organisations. We work with our Public Affairs colleagues to successfully navigate the intersection of law, politics, and policy. We can help with formulating government policy and delivering or changing legislation to achieve our client’s objectives.

Our team includes five “Roll A” Parliamentary Agents, more than any other firm, and a Principal Parliamentary Clerk. Our Parliamentary Agents and Principal Parliamentary Clerk are all actively involved in the promotion of and opposition to local and hybrid legislation.

Our Parliamentary team is closely integrated with our infrastructure team and secures harbour orders, transport and works act orders and development consent orders to implement nationally significant and major infrastructure.

Our experience helping Promoters

We have an extensive breadth to our experience advising local authorities, charitable trusts, corporate bodies, conservators, and other organisations in the promotion of Private Bills. In total, we have been involved in the promotion of 41 Private Bills – more than any other Parliamentary Agency –  since 1991.

Our recent Bill promotion work includes acting on: the Highgate Cemetery Bill on behalf of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust; the Middle Level Act 2018 on behalf of the Middle Level Conservators; the Humber Bridge Act 2013 on behalf of the Humber Bridge Board; as well as Private Bills for various local authorities.

Our experience helping Petitioners

We have also assisted over 100 Petitioners who have objected to the recent hybrid bills for Crossrail, HS2 Phase 1 and HS2 Phase 2a.

Please see our HS2 page for more information.

Our legislative drafting experience

We have drafted and advised on:

• Public Bills, including for Government departments, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Government of Gibraltar;
• amendments to Public Bills including for charities, private companies and individuals;
• Private Bills and Hybrid Bills (see above);
• Private Member Bills for MPs, charities and other bodies;
• Secondary legislation (including harbour orders, transport and works act orders and development consent orders); and
• Other legal instruments such as safeguarding directions, byelaws, regulations and road user charging orders.