Non-sitting Day - Project Open Gov

A day when a House of Parliament is not meeting to conduct ordinary business.

Also used as: non-sitting day, non sitting day, non-sitting days, non sitting days, non-sitting period, non sitting period

Official website: View non-sitting periods in What’s on

Source / explainer: View UK Parliament non-sitting periods

Last reviewed: 23 August 2026

A non-sitting day is a day when a House is not meeting to conduct ordinary business. It may fall within a recess, a weekend, a bank holiday, prorogation or another non-sitting period. The term is useful for explaining why daily summaries, ticker items or calendar entries may look different from ordinary sitting days.

Related terms

Bank HolidayA public holiday that may affect parliamentary sitting patterns and publication schedules.Parliamentary CalendarA public schedule showing when Parliament is sitting and what business is planned.ProrogationThe formal end of a parliamentary session.RecessA break during a parliamentary session when the Houses do not meet to conduct business.Scheduled BusinessParliamentary business planned for a particular date or sitting.