Week ahead

The week of a Budget is normally dominated by, er, the Budget. Not this time.

Amidst frantic manoeuvring on Thursday, the Conservatives put down amendments to the Crown and Courts Bill which would use the measure to set up the prime minister's preferred system of press regulation - paving the way for another cross-coalition confrontation of the kind first seen in January, when the two parties opposed one another over the review of parliamentary boundaries.

To be sure, the Coalition Agreement does not contain any commitments on press regulation - the hacking scandal only exploded later - but the sight of Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband in cahoots will still send chills down Tory spines, especially since they look likely to win the day.

Monday's debate will be on the report stage of the Crime and Courts Bill - and the big events might have revolved around Dominic Raab's amendment on human rights law and prisoner deportations, or around Nicola Blackwood's thoughtful proposal for specialist courts to deal with cases involving vulnerable victims, like the Rochdale case....

Now press regulation will dominate proceedings, and they may not even be debated. The shape of discussion will depend on rulings by Mr Speaker. Given that those who favour the "full Leveson" option of statutory underpinning for press regulation had very little time to react to the Conservative proposals before the deadline for amendments expired, most MPs expect him to use his discretion to allow late amendments - "manuscript amendments" in Commons jargon - to be discussed.

Doubtless the pro-Leveson forces will draw up their own proposals over the weekend - already there are amendments jointly signed by Ed Miliband and the Lib Dem deputy leader, Simon Hughes; and they will doubtless be keen to involve pro-Leveson Conservatives and members of the smaller parties.

The programme motion puts the prime minister's amendments at the top of the batting order - and how any other amendments are ordered (the "calls and the falls" in Commons-speak) will depend on what the detail of whatever they contain. MPs will also have to vote on a Standing Order 75 motion to extend the scope of the bill, so that the whole issue of press regulation will come within its scope.

As well as Conservatives who want Leveson, there are Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs who oppose statutory regulation in principle - Labour's Sir Gerald Kaufman, for example is an ex-Mirror journalist and is vehemently against any scintilla of statutory regulation. The SNP won't be voting and the line taken by other small parties may turn out to be very important.

One factor here is that a number of Northern Ireland MPs who may be in the US for St Patrick's Day, and who won't get back in time - given that this could be a very tight vote, that factor could even be decisive. Even the intentions of the troubled ex-Labour MP Eric Joyce could tip what could be a very tight balance.

Here's my run-through of the rest of the Parliamentary week....

On Monday, the Commons opens at 2.30pm for Communities and Local Government questions - and (assuming no statements or urgent questions), MPs will move onto the Crime and Courts Bill at 3.30pm. The amendments will be debated at the report stage, and they will then proceed to third reading.

The Conservative Peter Bone and allies want seven hours set aside to debate the amendments on the press, and it's quite possible the debate may extend into the small hours - so pity Labour MP Lilian Greenwood, who has an adjournment debate on benefit changes in Nottingham at the end of business.

There's less excitement in the Lords (from 2.30pm) where the subjects to be raised at question time include restrictions on new and young drivers and (ho hum) progress made in the government's response to the Leveson report. After which, peers continue with the report stage of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. There's a debate on a report by the Lords Communications Committee on broadband, and on a Science and Technology Committee report on Higher Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

It may be the morning after the night before when MPs convene on Tuesday (at 11.30am) for Justice questions. The Conservative, Kris Hopkins, presents a ten minute rule bill to require parish and town councils to hold referendums before increasing their charge on the Council Tax, and then MPs rush through the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Bill.

This is a response to an Court of Appeal judgment against the government on the rules around benefit penalties for failure to participate in the Work Programme, which could cost the taxpayer an estimated £130m in repayments. There's also a motion under Section 4A (2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act, which (if I read it aright) concerns the Commons power to punish MPs by withholding salaries.

In the Lords (from 2.30pm) questions to ministers range across the implications of the UK's aging population and tourism and commerce visa restrictions on visitors from China. And then peers turn to the report stage of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill. There's also a short debate on ethical and sustainable fashion led by the crossbencher, Baroness Young of Hornsey.

Wednesday (from 11.30am) will be dominated by the Budget. As an appetiser, there will be Cabinet Office questions and, at noon, prime minister's question time. And then George Osborne delivers his 2013 Budget, and Ed Miliband responds for Labour... and then a four-day debate on its contents follows. This is normally broken up into different themes, each day, but there's no announcement on what these are, as yet.

In the Lords (from 3pm) ministers will field questions on measures to stimulate new house-building and environmentally sustainable new prisons, before returning to the report stage of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill.

On Thursday, the Commons meets at 9.30am for Business, Innovation and Skills Questions and (after the weekly statement on forthcoming debates by the Leader of the House, Andrew Lansley, the Budget debate rolls on.

In Westminster Hall, there's a general debate on the post-2015 development agenda, led by Hugh Bayley, James Duddridge and Bridget Phillipson.

In the Lords (from 11am) questions range across the recall of offenders on licence who breach that licence, and the near impossible task (my words, not theirs) of encouraging members of the House to ask short and relevant supplementary oral questions - a question put by the clearly fearless Labour peer, Lord Campbell-Savours. Then peers get to talk about the Budget, with Treasury Minister Lord Deighton to respond.

The Budget debate in the Commons continues into Friday - and since there will be no question time, MPs will just plunge straight in. The day will also see the final demise of a long list of private members' bills, which will have no further chance to be debated, as the parliamentary year draws to a close. They will be pole-axed with great ceremony at the end of business at 2.30pm.

The Lords will not be sitting.