---

Mr. Clarke: I am glad to say that the phenomenon described by my hon. Friend—of better performance in schools that used to have the worst performance in the past—is not confined her constituency, and it stems from this Government's policies. Today's announcement will accelerate that process and lead to greater fairness.
 
8 Jul 2004 : Column 1027
 
I agree that the governors' role is central. We are exploring a variety of ways to improve the quality of governors, and the training and support available for them. In that way, we can achieve a much stronger position. I believe that the foundation status announcements that I have made today will assist that process.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: I am grateful to all right hon. and hon. Members for helping us to achieve such good progress.

 
8 Jul 2004 : Column 1028
 

Business of the House

1.22 pm

The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Peter Hain): With permission, I should like to make a statement about the business for next week.

Monday 12 July—Consideration of Lords amendments to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Bill.

Tuesday 13 July—Proceedings on the Statute Law Repeals Bill [Lords], followed by remaining stages of the Energy Bill [Lords].

Wednesday 14 July—Remaining stages of the Patents Bill [Lords], followed by a debate on public expenditure on a motion for the Adjournment of the House.

Thursday 15 July—Motion to approve a Ways and Means resolution on the Traffic Management Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Traffic Management Bill.

Friday 16 July—Private Members' Bills.

The provisional business for the following week will be:

Monday 19 July—Consideration of Lords amendments, followed by remaining stages of the Health Protection Agency Bill [Lords]. Followed by remaining stages of the Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords].

Tuesday 20 July—A debate on Iraq on a motion for the Adjournment of the House, followed by consideration of Lords amendments.

Wednesday 21 July—A motion to approve three regional assembly and local government referendums orders, followed by consideration of Lords amendments.

Thursday 22 July—If necessary, consideration of Lords amendments, followed by a motion on the summer recess Adjournment.

Mr. Oliver Heald (North-East Hertfordshire) (Con): I thank the Leader of the House for the business.

May I congratulate the Father of the House on winning the award of parliamentarian of the year? In his speech, he highlighted the current difficulties in mounting campaigns here, the lack of debates in which the Prime Minister participates, and the shortage of time available for hon. Members.

Does not the Leader of the House have a responsibility to strengthen Parliament? In particular, he should allow sufficient time for the really important debates—something he signally failed to do over tuition fees, the Hutton report and the local government settlement.

May I also ask the right hon. Gentleman why nothing has been heard of the review of Select Committee powers—the Osmotherly rules—following the Hutton report? Why should we always have to bring in a judge when we want a serious inquiry?

More than six months ago, the European Scrutiny Committee asked the Leader of the House to change Standing Orders so that it could sit in public. Why has nothing happened about that?
 
8 Jul 2004 : Column 1029
 

The Leader of the House announced that the three regional assembly referendum orders will be discussed on 21 July, before the Electoral Commission has even reported on the postal ballots fiasco, and before the debate—or indeed the publication—of the draft regional assemblies Bill. This morning, the Liverpool Echo reported that the Government will not publish that draft Bill before the House rises for the summer, even though we have been promised it time and again. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that that is the case? How are we expected to judge all-postal balloting and the proposals for regional assemblies if the report has not been published and we have not seen the draft Bill?

Will the Prime Minister be publishing his response to our request for independent Electoral Commission observers at the two upcoming by-elections? Given the recent evidence of postal vote manipulation in Birmingham and elsewhere, surely that is necessary.

I thank the Leader of the House for finally announcing the debate on Iraq, which I have been seeking for many weeks. Is he able to confirm that the statement by the Prime Minister on the Butler report will definitely be made on Wednesday 14 July?

Finally, will the Leader of the House be taking part in the debate to explain why he pre-empted Lord Butler on GMTV by saying that whatever the verdict, no heads would roll? Surely those found to have made serious mistakes, including Ministers, should take the rap?

Mr. Hain: On the hon. Gentleman's final question: if he is doing me the courtesy of quoting what I said on GMTV, he should do so accurately and not rely on newspaper spin. I said:

"I do not know whether the Butler report will be critical or not but let's just wait for Lord Butler to report and then we will make a judgment. There may be lessons to be learned."

Then I said:

"I think the secret intelligence service MI6 and the domestic security service MI5 do a fantastic job for us. That is not to say that they do not make mistakes from time to time any more than Government Ministers like me or . . . the Prime Minister. But overall they do a fantastic job so I am saying in advance that this Government will not be a party to any kind of witch hunt against anybody"—

especially the intelligence services. That is the point that I am making. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will defend the intelligence services, and the work that they do on behalf of our national security, as vigorously as do the Government.

The hon. Gentleman asked about a statement on Iraq and the Butler report. I understand that Lord Butler will indeed publish his report on 14 July. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will make a statement to the House, in accordance with arrangements to be agreed with Mr. Speaker, as soon after that as is appropriate and when Lord Butler has informed us of the precise arrangements for making his report public. That is a matter for him. In the usual way, there will be discussions with Opposition Members about where they fit into that picture. We are anxious to be helpful in whatever way that we can, but I stress that this is not a
 
8 Jul 2004 : Column 1030
 
matter for me or the Prime Minister, primarily. The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) will understand that it is a matter for Lord Butler.

Mr. Heald: On the same day?

Mr. Hain: On the same day, indeed. Shortly after Lord Butler's report has been made public and he has been able to explain it, the Prime Minister will make a statement, as is appropriate and with the agreement of Mr. Speaker.

The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire asked about the Father of the House. I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend on his well deserved award of parliamentarian of the year. He is one of our greatest parliamentarians, even if he makes life uncomfortable for Ministers from time to time. He did that for me when I was the Foreign Office Minister covering Iraq, but he is a man of tremendous courtesy, and he is one of the best Members of this House.

The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire referred to the Prime Minister reporting back to the House. Like me, the hon. Gentleman is a member of the House of Commons Commission, and he therefore will have studied every page and line of the Commission's report in great detail. It shows conclusively that the number of debates and the opportunities for debating time have remained the same. The changes made by this Government have strengthened Parliament. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister appeared before the Liaison Committee only the other day. He appears before it twice a year, and that is a novel feature that we introduced. He has made many statements and come before the House pretty well whenever he has been asked to do so. On the issue of the Osmotherly rules, my right hon. Friend made it clear at the Liaison Committee earlier this week that I will bring before it the Government's suggestions and proposals for updating the rules. No dates have yet been agreed with the Committee, but it will be sometime in the autumn—whether early or late has yet to be decided, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman will understand.

On the European Scrutiny Committee's vote to open its proceedings, we have not changed the Standing Orders because there has been no opportunity, in business terms, to do so. The hon. Gentleman is a member of the Modernisation Committee, so he will know that it is considering the question, and he will be able to contribute to that consideration.

I have not seen the Liverpool Echo. It remains, as I have said before in business questions—perhaps even in answer to the hon. Gentleman—our objective to publish the draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny before the House rises. We want to achieve that.

On the issue of postal votes, we await the Electoral Commission's report, which will appear in September. The commission, as the hon. Gentleman knows, has been enthusiastic about promoting wider postal voting and I am sure that its report will be read with great interest in respect of elections and referendums of all kinds.

On the issue of election observers, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has written to the Leader of    the Opposition following his request that the Electoral Commission should appoint observers to the
 
8 Jul 2004 : Column 1031
 
by-elections in Birmingham and Leicester. My right hon. Friend makes it clear in his response that the decision about whether the commission should observe those elections is a matter for it to decide.

---