[1] Procedure by provisional order is a substitute for the more expensive course of private bill legislation; it is usually employed for such purposes as alteration of areas, compulsory purchase of land and building of light railways.
A preliminary local inquiry is first held in public by an inspector of the department to whom application has been made to issue it.
For this purpose it is included with other orders in a confirming bill, introduced by the minister at the head of the department concerned.
[1] These are now rare, having been all but superseded by the Statutory Orders (Special Procedure) Act 1945 (9 & 10 Geo.
[2] A provisional order bill cannot be passed without the consent of the House of Lords under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.