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Mr. Hain: I have not had a chance to read the report to which my hon. Friend refers, but I have been informed of its contents, which are indeed very worrying. I am grateful to him for raising this matter and I shall certainly draw it to the Foreign Secretary's attention to see what can be done. Clearly, the threat is very disturbing indeed.
Points of Order
Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, of which I have given you prior notice. I am indebted to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Harris), who, as you know, alerted me to the matter that I wish to raise. Last Thursday, the hon. Gentleman, who is a good cross-party friend of mine, had a researcher, Donald Campbell, working from his constituency office and seeking to access his parliamentary e-mail. Having logged on to the parliamentary data and video network, however, the researcher was amazed to find that constituency files relating to my constituency work had been opened to him. Obviously, that had not been his intention.
I have discussed the matter with the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart and we are not sure whether this very serious breach of confidentiality occurred because only three Members' names feature between us in the alphabetical list of Members' names or because both of us have the wisdom to employ Scots parliamentary assistants who share the name Campbell. Whichever is the reason, I am sure that you, Mr. Speaker, will share my concern that the parliamentary data and video network must be completely secure. We have written a joint letter to the head of the network, but as a matter of urgency, may I ask you to make your own inquiries so that the constituents of all hon. Members know that the system will be secure? Of course, no harm was done on this occasion, but on other occasions constituents need to know that only people authorised to log on in working for an individual Member will see that Member's constituency files.
Mr. Speaker: I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing this matter to my attention. It is a very serious matter that has serious implications, as he pointed out. I have instructed the Serjeant at Arms, who is responsible for these matters, to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I will get back to the hon. Gentleman.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Have you received any indication from the Secretary of State for Health that a statement will be made about the shortage of suppliers of reading spectacles, or, alternatively, a request from the Leader of the House and other ageing Cabinet Ministers asking that the size of the Dispatch Box be increased, raising it to a height at which their papers are brought within their field of vision, so that they do not have to plant rather incongruous volumes on top of it to enable them to avoid using reading spectacles when making their statements?
Mr. Speaker: If the hon. Gentleman has any problem with reading spectacles, there is a good company in Glasgow.
Pay for Chairmen of Select Committees
1.13 pm
The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Peter Hain): I beg to move,
- That this House—
1. takes note of the Report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries on Pay for Select Committee Chairmen in the House of Commons presented to Parliament on 17th July (Cm. 5673);
2. approves the Sixth Report of the Committee on Standards and Privileges on Pay for Select Committee Chairmen (HC 1150); and endorses the principles set out in paragraph 16 of that report; and
3. expresses the opinion that—
(a) with effect from the beginning of the next Session of Parliament, the salary of a Member should be £12,500 per annum higher than the figure determined in accordance with the provisions of the Resolution of the House of 10th July 1996 in respect of any period during which he is the Chairman of a select committee appointed under Standing Order No. 152 (Select Committees related to government departments), the Environmental Audit Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee, the Committee of Public Accounts, the Select Committee on Public Administration, the Regulatory Reform Committee, the Joint Committee on Human Rights or the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, other than to the extent that the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) apply;
(b) a period begins for the purpose of sub-paragraph (a)—
(i) with the day on which the Member becomes Chairman of such a committee, or
(ii) with the beginning of the next Session of Parliament, in the case of a Member who became Chairman before that time;
and ends on the day on which the Member ceases to be Chairman (or, if he is Chairman of more than one such committee, he ceases to be Chairman of the last of those committees);
(c) there shall be disregarded for the purpose of sub-paragraph (a)—
(i) any period which is of less than 24 hours duration; and
(ii) any period, or part thereof, in respect of which the Member is also entitled to an additional salary by virtue of any provision of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975;
(d) reference to any Committee in sub-paragraph (a) shall—
(i) if the name of the Committee is changed, be taken (subject to paragraph (ii)) to be a reference to the Committee by its new name; and
(ii) if the functions of the Committee become functions of a different Committee, be taken to be a reference to the Committee by whom the functions are for the time being exercisable;
(e) the provisions of paragraph (2) of the Resolution of the House of 10th July 1996 relating to Members' Salaries (No. 2) shall apply, with effect from 1st April 2004, to a salary determined in accordance with the provisions of sub-paragraph (a) as they apply in relation to a salary determined in accordance with the provisions of that Resolution; and
(f) the Speaker shall have authority to interpret these provisions and to determine rules from time to time for their implementation.
The system of departmental Select Committees established by the House in 1979 has grown in stature and influence over the past two decades. The Committees have added significantly to the ability of the Commons to scrutinise and hold to account major Departments. The opportunity for sustained and close
questioning in Committee provides a degree of forensic scrutiny that it is simply not possible to attain in other forums such as the Floor of the House of Commons. It is not surprising that the system of Committees that exercises that scrutiny function is generally regarded as one of the most important and effective mechanisms for ensuring ministerial accountability. The Government welcome that. As my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook), was keen to point out, good scrutiny means good government.Since 1979, the Committees' work load has increased markedly. In addition to the task of holding ministers to account, they are responsible for a range of duties including the scrutiny of draft Bills, independent regulators and executive agencies. It was in recognition of the scrutiny Committees' important role, expanding tasks and increasing influence that the Modernisation Committee, then chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston, examined the extra burden that fell to Committee staff and Chairmen. The report recommended an increase in the resources available to the Committees, including a new central unit of specialist support staff—the scrutiny unit, which is now fully up and running—and a review of each Committee's staffing needs; a significant increase in staffing is now being implemented.
The Modernisation Committee also recommended that the Chairmen of the scrutiny Committees should be paid an additional salary. The additional amount is proposed in recognition of the extra work that those Chairmen are expected to undertake and in the hope that it will go some way towards creating a career path in Parliament as an alternative to the ministerial route, highlighting the value that Parliament and the Government place upon the scrutiny function of the House.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): Although there is undoubtedly a compelling argument for the payment of the Chairmen of Select Committees, does the right hon. Gentleman agree that there is a certain incongruity, to put it no more strongly, about the fact that the composition of Select Committees, whose purpose is to scrutinise the Executive, is determined by representatives of the Executive? Is that not something about which a modernising Leader of the House, be he part-time or full-time, should be properly concerned?
Mr. Hain: Obviously, concerns about this matter were debated a little while ago; in fact, it was last year when the House took a decision on it.
Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock): I shall be candid: I am opposed to the proposed payment. I would be more satisfied, however, if there were to be a declaration of distance between the Government and the act of nominating or anointing people as Chairmen of Select Committees. For example, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) was anointed to be Chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs after the general election as—one has to say this; I do not say it in a nasty way—a consolation prize for losing office. If there is a new career path structure, Ministers should be kept out of it. There
should be a period of quarantine between leaving ministerial office and being Chairman of a Select Committee.
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