There are currently three ways in which the House programmes its legislation:

(1)	Programme motions (first recommended in the Jopling Report in 1991). This system was agreed to by the House following adoption of our First Report in July 1997.
(2)	Voluntary informal agreements. This involves an informal arrangement between the usual channels. It is frequently used both for determining when a bill should finish in standing committee, how far it should get on a particular day, and on report stage roughly when votes would take place. The advantage of such a system is its flexibility; the disadvantage is any agreement so reached can be negated by those not specifically party to it.
(3)	Guillotine. An enforced programme is used with varying frequency by Governments when voluntary agreements cannot be secured. When there is a guillotine there is of course certainty as to when the bill will finish and some degree of certainty as to when individual votes will occur. However, where, as is often the case, the guillotine is only introduced after a considerable time has been spent on a very limited part of the bill, debate on some important aspects of the legislation may be unduly curtailed. Decisions on timing are wholly on the purview of the Government of the day.