Public submissions on the review of Standing Orders close on Thursday October 26

Standing Orders are the basic detailed rules of the House, how business is conducted and the exercise of Parliament’s powers.

The Standing Orders Select Committee conducts a regular triennial review of Standing Orders, though the last major rewrite came with the introduction of MMP.

Speaker Lockwood Smith has indicated that he does not anticipate a major reform of Standing Orders but said there was always room for improvement.

Details about the review and Standing Order are available here - Review of Standing Orders. Usually changes to Standing Orders come into force following the next election.

The Speaker’s interpretation of Standing Order is often as important as the rules themselves, with different holders of the office taking a different view on how business should be conducted in the House.

Dr Smith has in his time made two shifts in his interpretations. One ruling is that ministers must directly answer straightforward factual questions if it is possible.

He has also ruled against MPs using points of order to make political statements and to table items such as media and parliamentary reports that are easily accessible to MPs.

In the past it was common for MPs to use points of orders to make political statements with no need to back them up with any evidence as there was no need to actually table documents.

A book known as Speakers’ Rulings also compiles previous office holders’ interpretation of Standing Orders.

These are sometime used as precedents when making decisions, but because of the wide variations in different Speaker’s views these sometimes tend to be contradictory.

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