Order of Business Thursday 17 January 2013

+ indicates Government business.
Timings are indicative only.

House of Commons

Order of Business

At 9.30 am Prayers

Afterwards

Private Business

Note: Private Business is not debated at this time, and may not be proceeded with if opposed.

Consideration of Bill ordered to Lie upon the Table

London Local Authorities and Transport for London (No. 2) Bill [Lords]

Afterwards

Notes:   indicates a question for oral answer.

[R] indicates that the Member has declared a relevant interest.

Questions for oral answer not reached receive a written answer

Supplementary questions will also be asked. Other Ministers may also answer.

Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport

 1 Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East): What the maximum regulated rail fare rise was in January 2013. (137492)

 2 Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter): What discussions he has had with Network Rail on improving the flood resilience of the South West rail network. (137493)

 3 Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East): What his latest estimate is of the cost to the public purse of cancelling the award of the West Coast Mainline franchise; and if he will make a statement. (137494)

 4 Chris Williamson (Derby North): What recent progress he has made on the Thameslink and Crossrail rolling stock contracts; and if he will make a statement. (137495)

 5 Sir Bob Russell (Colchester): What recent assessment he has made of the potential to increase the capacity of the railway network between Colchester and London. (137496)

 6 Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon): What progress he has made on reducing bottlenecks in the road network. (137497)

 7 Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West): What recent assessment he has made of the potential benefits of electrification of railway lines into Wales. (137498)

 8 Stephen Mosley (City of Chester): What recent progress his Department has made on securing an operator for the West Coast Mainline franchise. (137499)

 9 Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood): What steps he is taking to accelerate major road-building projects. (137500)

 10 Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): What assessment he has made of the level of service provided by London Midland trains in the last six months; and if he will make a statement. (137501)

 11 Peter Aldous (Waveney): What assessment his Department has made of the role of the private sector in the UK's railways. (137502)

 12 Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland): What assessment he has made of bus fare rises in non-metropolitan areas; and if he will make a statement. (137504)

 13 Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale): What recent progress the Government has made on rail electrification; and if he will make a statement. (137505)

 14 Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North): What progress he has made on the transport infrastructure projects announced in the 2011 Autumn Statement; and if he will make a statement. (137506)

 15 Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye): What plans he has for rail investment; and if he will make a statement. (137507)

 16 James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis): What plans he has for rail investment; and if he will make a statement. (137508)

 17 Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber): When he last discussed the future of London to Scotland sleeper services with the Scottish Government; and if he will make a statement. (137510)

 18 Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall): What recent assessment he has made of the potential benefits of re-introducing railway services to North Cornwall. (137511)

At 10.05 am

Topical Questions to the Secretary of State for Transport

The Members listed below have been selected by ballot to ask a Topical Question.

 T1 Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West): If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities. (137512)

 T2 Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington):  (137514)

 T3 Mrs Anne McGuire (Stirling):  (137515)

 T4 David Mowat (Warrington South):  (137516)

 T5 Priti Patel (Witham):  (137517)

 T6 Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry):  (137518)

 T7 John Mann (Bassetlaw):  (137521)

At 10.15 am

Oral Questions to the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission and the Leader of the House

 1 Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife): To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what progress the Commission expects to make in the remainder of this Session on the renovation and renewal of the Houses of Parliament. (137522)

 2 Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire): To ask the Leader of the House, when he expects to receive a report from the Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons. (137523)

 3 Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch): To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what use the Commission is making of price mechanisms to ensure maximum utilisation of House of Commons dining rooms on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. (137524)

 4 Ann McKechin (Glasgow North): To ask the Leader of the House, whether he plans to give evidence to the Procedure Committee inquiry on programming. (137525)

 5 Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth): To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the pilots of public reading stages for bills. (137526)

 6 Charlie Elphicke (Dover): To ask the Leader of the House, what recent consideration he has given to the procedure for Private Members' bills; and if he will make a statement. (137527)

 7 Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark): To ask the Leader of the House, whether he has considered guaranteeing a minimum amount of time for the consideration of Government bills at Report Stage. (137528)

 8 Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West): To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of new sitting hours on managing the business of the House. (137529)

 9 Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North): To ask the Leader of the House, what recent discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on the requirements of the Ministerial Code relating to making policy announcements to the House before the media. (137530)

 10 Robert Halfon (Harlow): To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many apprentices are employed by the House of Commons Service; and what estimate he has made of the number of apprentices employed by the House's major suppliers. (137531)

At 10.30 am Urgent Questions (if any)

Business Question to the Leader of the House

Ministerial Statements, if any

Main Business

1 BACKBENCH BUSINESS [Until 5.00 pm]

ATOS WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENTS

Mr Michael Meacher

Robert Halfon

Dan Rogerson

Julie Hilling

That this House has considered the matter of Atos work capability assessments.

NUCLEAR DETERRENT

Dr Julian Lewis

Paul Flynn

That this House has considered the matter of the nuclear deterrent.

The Fourth Report from the Scottish Affairs Committee, on The Referendum on Separation for Scotland: Terminating Trident-Days or Decades?, HC 676, and the Government response, HC 861, are relevant.

Debate may continue until 5.00 pm.

At the end of the sitting:

2 ADJOURNMENT

Proposed subject: Street lighting in residential areas (Andy Sawford).

Debate may continue until 5.30 pm or for half an hour, whichever is later (Standing Order No. 9).

COMMITTEES

PUBLIC BILL COMMITTEES

Subject: Further to take evidence on the Bill.

Witnesses: Committee on Climate Change (until no later than 12 noon); Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth (until no later than 12.45 pm).

Subject: Further to take evidence on the Bill.

Witnesses: Safety Directors’ Forum, EDF Energy and Carbon Capture and Storage Association (until no later than 3.00 pm); Consumer Focus, Institute for Public Policy Research and Which? (until no later than 4.00 pm); National Energy Action and GMB (until no later than 4.45 pm); Combined Heat and Power Association, Siemens and E3G (until no later than 5.30 pm).

SELECT COMMITTEES

Subject: Pakistan.

Witnesses: Sir Michael Barber, Department for International Development, Special Representative on Education in Pakistan, Anwar Akhtar, Founding Director of theSamosa.co.uk and Dr Matthew Nelson, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Dr Ehtisham Ahmad, London School of Economics, and David Steven, Senior Fellow, Centre on International Co-operation, New York University and Brookings Institution (at 10.30 am).

Subject: Do We Need a Constitutional Convention for the UK?

Witnesses: Paul Silk, Chair, Commission on Devolution in Wales and Professor Noel Lloyd, Commission member.

JOINT COMMITTEES

Subject: Banking Standards.

Witnesses: Professor Julia Black, Professor David Kershaw and Gregory Mitchell QC.

Subject: Draft Care and Support Bill.

Witnesses: Laura Robinson, Policy and Communications Adviser, National Voices, Marc Bush, Head of Research and Public Policy, Scope, Caroline Abrahams, Director of External Affairs, Age UK, Alex Fox, Chief Executive, Shared Lives Plus and Mark Goldring, Chief Executive, Mencap; Paul Farmer, Chief Executive, Mind, Gary Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Action on Elder Abuse, Sue Bott, Director of Development, Disability Rights UK and Sue Brown, Head of Public Policy, Care and Support Alliance (at 11.00 am).

Subject: Panel on Mis-Selling and Cross-Selling.

Witnesses: Ged Nicholls, General Secretary, Accord Union, Dominic Hook, National Officer, and Stuart Davies, Regional Officer, Unite the Union; Gordon Pell, former Chairman, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, and former Chief Executive, Retail Markets, Guy Whittaker, former Group Chief Financial Officer, and Paul Geddes, Chief Executive, Direct Line Group (at 2.00 pm).

[The decision of a Committee to sit in public may be rescinded without notice.]

PUBLICATION OF SELECT COMMITTEE REPORTS

Draft Local Audit Bill: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (First Report).

Draft Legislative Reform (Hallmarking) Order 2013 (Third Report of Session 2012-13).

Written Ministerial Statements to be made today

1Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: Further progress in the Employment Law Review.

2Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: Regional Growth Fund update.

3Minister for the Cabinet Office: Committee on Standards in Public Life-Fourteenth Report.

4Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer: Publication of draft Finance Bill legislation.

5Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council-17 January 2013.

6Secretary of State for Health: Plasma Resources UK Limited.

7Leader of the House: Public reading stage.

8Prime Minister: Machinery of Government change: URENCO.

9Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Fitness for Work: The Government response to Health and Work - an independent review of sickness absence.