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BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 15 (Exempted business),


Question agreed to.

Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I question whether the Standing Order under which motion No. 3 is to be debated is the appropriate Standing Order.

For the past 10 years, the Standing Order has allowed a fishing debate before the Minister goes to the Fisheries Council. As the forthcoming Fisheries Council is the most important for 10 years, would it not be extraordinary if the House of Commons and hon. Members representing fishing constituencies were not allowed to express their views to the Minister with responsibility for fisheries before he went to the Council, as opposed to afterwards? Is Standing Order No. 119(9) the appropriate Standing Order?

Several hon. Members rose--

Mr. Speaker: Order. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me notice of the point of order. There is no breach of any Standing Order. The matter that he raises is one for the business managers and not for the Speaker.

12 Dec 2000 : Column 591

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Elliot Morley): Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. There was an opportunity yesterday to debate the matter in Committee. All Members had the opportunity to talk about the annual fish quotas. The hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) was not present for that Committee debate.

Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine): Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Would it be helpful for the Chair to enlighten Members, such as the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond), that under the Standing Orders any Member is entitled to attend a European Standing Committee and put his points to the Minister? It was the absence of the hon. Gentleman and others that meant that points were not made on behalf of their constituents.

Mr. Speaker: Order. The Speaker tries always to enlighten all Members.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DOCUMENTS

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 119(9) (European Standing Committees),

Fisheries: Total Allowable Catches and Quotas 2001


MR SPEAKER: I think the Ayes have it.

Hon. Members: No.

Division deferred till Wednesday 13 December, pursuant to Order [7 November 2000].

ADJOURNMENT (CHRISTMAS)

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 25,


MR SPEAKER: I think the Ayes have it.

Hon. Members: No.

12 Dec 2000 : Column 592

Division deferred till Wednesday 13 December, pursuant to Order [7 November 2000].

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Motion made,


Hon. Members: Object.

SITTINGS OF THE HOUSE

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 12,



12th and 19th January, 16th February, 2nd March, 4th May, 22nd and 29th June, 6th and 13th July and 19th October 2001.-- [Mr. McNulty.]

MR SPEAKER: I think the Ayes have it.

Hon. Members: No.

Division deferred till Wednesday 13 December, pursuant to Order [7 November 2000].

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE

Motion made,


Hon. Members: Object.

SELECT COMMITTEES (JOINT MEETINGS)

Motion made,



Line 37, before the word 'European' insert the words 'Environmental Audit Committee or with the'.
Line 46, before the word 'European' insert the words 'Environmental Audit Committee or with the'.
Line 48, at the end insert the words:--
'(4A) notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (4) above, where more than two committees or sub-committees appointed under this order meet concurrently in accordance with paragraph (4)(e) above, the quorum of each such committee or sub-committee shall be two.'--[Mr. McNulty.]

Hon. Members: Object.

12 Dec 2000 : Column 591

12 Dec 2000 : Column 593

Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993

10.22 pm

The Parliamentary Secretary, Privy Council Office (Mr. Paddy Tipping): I beg to move,


I stress that I want to say little about the 1993 Act, the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2000-01, the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report 2000-01 or the Pre-Budget Report 2000. Even if I wished to focus on their content, I suspect that you, Mr. Speaker, would rule me out of order. I am sure that many right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House will have much to say, and the motion before us allows that to happen in an appropriate way, but at present we are discussing the process for that discussion rather than the content of it.

Section 5 of the--

Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East): The Minister will know that section 5 states that these reports will be the basis of submissions to the European Commission. Will the House read what information the Government send on the basis of that, or will the information be kept secret and away from the House? In other words, will the Government tell us what information they will pass on, which we note must be based on two large reports?

Mr. Tipping: I am about to describe the process and I shall take the hon. Gentleman through it before answering his point. Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act provides that both Houses must approve a report to Parliament on the Government's


of the treaty. As in previous years, the section 5 report is to be the Financial Statement and Budget Report, the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report and the Pre-Budget Report published on 8 November. That is the material to be discussed by the Committee. It is important that we have that discussion before discussing the material to be sent on to the Commission, but the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) makes a fair point: in the interests of openness, the material sent by the Treasury to the Commission should be available for public inspection.

Sir Teddy Taylor: The Minister is being helpful. Will he confirm that all Members of Parliament will be able to read the information that the Government send to the Commission, if they wish to do so? That would be a most helpful concession and clarification.

Mr. Tipping: If the hon. Gentleman is asking me to ensure that, following the discussion in Committee, the report sent by the Government to the Commission is made available in the Library to all Members of Parliament, I am happy to arrange that. The answer is yes.

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The motion allows the discussion to take place in Standing Committee, rather than on the Floor of the House. The motion is not unprecedented: this is the third annual programme to be submitted in that way, and the section 5 debate was carried out upstairs in 1997-98 and 1998-99. Debate in Committee will last for exactly the same time as it would on the Floor of the House--one and a half hours--and any Member will be able to participate in that debate.


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