Update on the Terminally Ill (End Of Life) Bill

I wanted to give you a update on the current status of the Terminally Ill (End of Life) Bill.

The Bill has passed all stages in the House of Commons and is now being reviewed in the House of Lords. It had over 12 hours of debate over two days and passed its second reading on 12 September 2025.

Before moving forward, the House of Lords established a special committee to look more closely at the Bill. This committee has 13 members from different political parties and is led by Lord Hope of Craighead, a highly respected former Judge and Deputy President of the Supreme Court. Members include the Bishop of Newcastle and peers from Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat parties as well as politically unaffiliated crossbenchers.

The committee has already met four times and will meet twice more. They’ve heard from doctors, mental health experts, social workers, people with disabilities, palliative care experts among others. Their final evidence session is this week. After that, they’ll write a report summarising what they’ve heard and will give their opinion on the Bill. This report will be shared with all members of the House of Lords and published online.

The Bill will then return to the House of Lords for four more days of debate on 14 and 21 November, and 5 and 12 December. During these sessions, members can suggest and discuss changes to the Bill. Unlike in the House of Commons, there’s no limit to how many changes can be proposed in the Lords—over 400 have already been tabled.

After that comes the Report Stage. This is when the Lords look at the Bill again and vote on any amendments. It’s also a chance for members who weren’t involved earlier to suggest improvements. Peers can vote on as many amendments as they wish and there is no time limit on debate although it is expected that this stage will take a further two days. 

If the House of Lords passes the Bill, it will go back to the House of Commons, where MPs will vote on each change. These votes are expected to take place after Christmas and into the New Year.  I will not know what changes are made to the bill until after the House of Lords have completed their process. As soon as I know what proposals are being made, I shall write to you again.

I hope you have found this update useful and should you have any questions about this matter or require assistance with anything else, please feel free to get in touch.