The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill 2017-19 was introduced to the House of Commons on 4 July 2019. The text of the Bill and Explanatory Notes are available on the Bill pages on the Parliamentary website.
At Business Questions on 4 July, the Leader of the House, Mel Stride MP, announced that the Government’s intention is for all the House of Commons stages of the Bill to be taken on Monday 8 July. However, by the rise of the House on Thursday 4 July, this plan had been revisited. The Business of the House motion on the Order Paper for Monday 8 July does not in fact provide for all stages to be taken in one day. It is now anticipated that second reading will take place on Monday 8 July, but that subsequent stages will take place on a subsequent sitting day.
This short Bill amends Section 1 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 to extend the period provided in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 for Northern Ireland Ministers to be appointed following the Assembly election held on 2 March 2017 to 21 October 2019. It also imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to report on progress towards the formation of an Executive in Northern Ireland.