What's happening in Parliament this week?

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the Houses of Parliament, barely a legislator was stirring... with a low-key agenda where the gentle slide towards the holiday will be broken only by a couple of big committee hearings, or possibly by "events, dear boy".

The Commons breaks up on Tuesday, so there will be no Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, but Rishi Sunak will still face questioning from the Liaison Committee of senior MPs.

Connoisseurs will recall their last close encounter with a PM, back in July - that surreal session with Boris Johnson solemnly discussing his policies as his government disintegrated around him. Liz Truss didn't last long enough to get a gig at the Liaison Committee, and this will be Rishi Sunak's debut before it.

Monday 19 December

Commons: (14:30) Home Office Questions start the week, after which Labour's Andrew Western will take his seat having won the Stretford and Urmston by-election.

Staff sacked by P&O Ferries protested outside Parliament in March after hundreds were told they were being replaced by agency workers.

The main debate will be the second reading of the Seafarers' Wages Bill - a measure to ensure that seafarers working out of UK ports are paid the national minimum wage while in UK waters. The bill is part of the government's response to the outrage caused when P&O Ferries sacked 800 staff without notice earlier this year. It has already cleared the Lords.

This will probably leave plenty of time for a government statement or some other significant item to be dropped in at short notice.

The adjournment debate sees Labour MP Sam Tarry, recently deselected by his local party, discussing pay and conditions for NHS nurses.

Westminster Hall: (16:30) MPs debate e-petition 604509, 'Create a National Sleep Strategy', which notes that since 2018 schools have referred 1,400 children without beds to a bed poverty charity, and says this should be seen as a key public health issue affecting educational outcomes for children across the UK. The petition attracted 18,496 signatures.

Committees: Public Accounts (16:00) looks at the work of the Passport Office, including this summer's passport debacle when it was overwhelmed by post-Covid demand and thousands of people missed holidays and important travel for sickness and funerals. Top Home Office officials including Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft will give evidence.

Lords: (14:30) The main event is the first of five days of committee scrutiny of the National Security Bill. This is the probing, shadow boxing phase of detailed debate, where amendments are not pushed to a vote, but the arguments tee up amendments at report stage in the new year. There's already a lot of chatter about several aspects of the legislation, including a proposed register of "foreign influence".

One influential voice already asking questions is Lord Anderson of Ipswich, a former reviewer of anti-terror legislation. He's already tweeted that the register is "an ill-directed and vastly overboard control on foreign lobbying, not a national security measure". Ministers will have a chance to answer those concerns.

There's also a short debate on plans to improve trade and investment relations with countries in Central America.

Tuesday 20 December

Commons: (11:30) Treasury Questions start the day.

There will then be a ten minute rule bill; Conservative Darren Henry wants to boost shared parental leave.

The main debate will be the traditional end-of-term one where any MP can raise a subject of their choice.

Westminster Hall: MPs debate family businesses (09:30); the future of rail services (11:00); the expansion of the London's ultra-low emission zone (14:30); the Energy Charter Treaty (16:00); and affordable childcare (16:30).

Committees: The big event is the appearance of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before the Liaison Committee, the super-committee of select committee chairs, presided over by Sir Bernard Jenkin. The session has been divided into four segments, starting with global issues, including the war in Ukraine, migration, and the COP27 climate summit, with questioning conducted by Clive Betts of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Philip Dunne (Environmental Audit), Dame Diana Johnson (Home Affairs), and Alicia Kearns (Foreign Affairs).

More than 10,000 NHS ambulance staff from nine NHS hospital trusts in England and Wales will walk out on 21 December in a dispute over pay

The next section is on the UK's place in the world and the state of the Union, featuring Sir Bill Cash (European Scrutiny), Joanna Cherry (Human Rights), Robin Walker (Education), and Pete Wishart (Scottish Affairs).

Next will be economic issues, including the Autumn Statement and the cost of living, with Harriett Baldwin (Treasury), Steve Brine (Health and Social Care), Sir Robert Neill (Justice), and Sir Stephen Timms (Work and Pensions). Finally there's a cross-issue segment featuring Catherine McKinnell (Petitions).

Earlier (10:00), Health and Social Care has a session on ambulance delays and strikes, with evidence from emergency health chiefs and the GMB union talking about waiting times and preparations for ambulance strikes, and what is being done to provide a safe level of emergency cover for the public during strike action after Health Minister Will Quince told MPs it was "likely" the most serious and life-threatening calls, categories 1 and 2, would be responded to. New chair Steve Brine promised more topical hearings - and this is the kind of rapid response hearing he had in mind.

Lords: (14:30) The main event is the Finance Bill - this being a money bill, and therefore untouchable in the Lords, peers will take the second reading and remaining stages of debate in a single gulp. There might be some grumbles, but they're not allowed to make any changes.

Wednesday 21 December

The Commons will have departed, but the Lords (11:00) beaver on with day 2 of committee on the National Security Bill.

There's also a short debate led by crossbencher Lord Bird on the government's estimates of the savings that might be realised by their cost-cutting initiative.

Committees: Justice and Home Affairs (10:00) hears from Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

After that - barring an emergency recall - Parliament will be in recess until Monday 9 January,