Hybrid Bills

Hybrid Bills, such as that for Crossrail and now prospectively those for HS2, follow a distinct process before the UK Parliament. They provide a special means of authorising major infrastructure projects as well as providing the basis for legislating on other matters which affect particular private interests.

Hybrid bills affect particular interests differently from the population at large or other person or bodies in the same category or class. As such, they share some of the features of conventional public bills such as the annual Finance bill but also many of the features of private bills. In consequence, they are required to proceed as a cross between a public and a private bill (hence the designation 'hybrid'). Private bills are those bills promoted by outside interests (so not by the Government or an MP) and usually for a local purpose. Private bills were the means by which much of our Victorian infrastructure, public health and local government arrangements were authorised. Whilst gradually replaced by general powers or order-making procedures, some private bills are still promoted and they were still used extensively to authorise ports and railways until 1994.

Hybrid bills over the years have dealt with a very diverse range of subjects. Examples include bringing Caldy Island within local government arrangements for Pembrokeshire (1989-90), revising the governance and funding arrangements for the Museum of London (1985-86), making arrangements for the management of Trafalgar House which had been bequeathed to Nelson's successors (1946), the virtual nationalisation of the Bank of England in 1946 and the establishment of the London Passenger Transport Board (1931-33).

But what now most interests people about hybrid bills is the prospect of phase 1 of the HS2 railway (London to Birmingham) being authorised by hybrid bill, to be followed by a further hybrid bill for phase 2 (Leeds and Manchester). Assuming this happens, as the Government has indicated that it intends, HS2 will follow in the footsteps of other major infrastructure projects authorised in this way, including Crossrail (2005-08), High Speed 1 (1994-96), the Cardiff Bay Barrage (1991-93), the Second Severn Crossing (1990-92) and the Channel Tunnel (1986-87).

In some ways, this is quite surprising. Historically, railways had always been authorised by private bills (as mentioned above) but these were effectively abolished in 1994 when a new ordermaking procedure was devised. At...