Appendix 2: Analysis of results
The table on the right shows the number of respondents
(not all answered every question).
In the figures below, percentages are expressed as
out of 368 (the total number of responses) rather than of those
who answered the particular question.
| Party |
Responses |
Percentage |
| L | 218
| 53% |
| C | 108
| 67% |
| LD | 31
| 58% |
| Other |
11 | 41%
|
| Total |
368 | 57%
|
Q1. What are your preferred sitting hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays?
| Tuesday
| Wednesday
|
| Party
| 2.30 pm
interrupt
at 10 pm
| 11.30 am
interrupt
at 7 pm
| 11.30 am
business
after 7 pm
| 2.30 pm
interrupt
at 10 pm
| 11.30 am
interrupt
at 7 pm
| 11.30 am
business
after 7 pm
|
| L | 96
| 80 | 33
| 59 | 108
| 42 |
| C | 75
| 23 | 7
| 56 | 37
| 11 |
| LD | 11
| 11 | 8
| 7 | 15
| 8 |
| Other |
10 | 1
| — | 7
| 1 | 2
|
| Total
| 192 | 115
| 48 | 129
| 161 | 63
|
| Per cent
| 52% | 31%
| 13% | 35%
| 44% | 17%
|
Q4a. Do you find an 8.55 am start to select/standing committees
to be convenient?
| Party |
Yes | No
|
| L | 65
| 113 |
| C | 27
| 67 |
| LD | 10
| 14 |
| Other |
— | 10
|
| Total
| 102 | 204
|
| Per cent
| 28% | 55%
|
Q4b. Would you support a 9.25 am start for select/standing
committees?
| Party |
Yes | No
|
| L | 95
| 59 |
| C | 53
| 33 |
| LD | 18
| 4 |
| Other |
6 | 5
|
| Total
| 172 | 101
|
| Per cent
| 47% | 27%
|
Q2. What are the main reasons for your views [on Q1: House
sitting times]?
| Reasons
| Tuesdays
| Wednesdays
|
| (a) Given by those preferring the old times
| | |
| *Fewer clashes between House/committee/other meetings
| 165 | 113
|
| *Less concentration of meetings of all descriptions
| 132 | 100
|
| *More opportunity to telephone people during their office hours, and deal with constituency cases and correspondence
| 156 | 116
|
| †More family-friendly
| 13 | 8
|
| †Effective use of Parliamentary day
| 67 | 34
|
| Allow time for visits/tours in morning
| 26 | 20
|
| Collegiate atmosphere/discussions with colleagues
| 21 | 19
|
| Allow time for duties outside House in morning
| 10 | 11
|
| New times give little opportunity to have lunch
| 7 | 7
|
| Time to meet outsiders |
1 | 1
|
| Easier to attend wind-up speeches
| 1 | 1
|
| More preparation time |
1 | 1
|
| (b) Given by those preferring the new times
| | |
| *More family-friendly |
74 | 53
|
| *Better press coverage |
45 | 53
|
| *Effective use of Parliamentary day
| 85 | 106
|
| Constituents/public think it is more sensible
| 8 | 8
|
| Evening is poor time to take decisions
| 5 | 5
|
| Time for other work in evenings
| 7 | 6
|
| More normal life/free evenings
| 20 | 22
|
| More incentive to become an MP
| 2 | 2
|
| Encourage other employers to be family-friendly
| 1 | 1
|
| (c) Given by those preferring the new times, but with other business after 7 pm
| | |
| *More family-friendly |
28 | 22
|
| *Better press coverage |
24 | 24
|
| *Effective use of Parliamentary day
| 42 | 43
|
| Constituents/public think it is more sensible
| 3 | 2
|
| Evening is poor time to take decisions
| 4 | 3
|
| Time for other work in evenings
| 8 | 7
|
| More normal life/free evenings
| 0 | 1
|
* Option pre-printed in questionnaire
† Option pre-printed in questionnaire, but not for
this preference
Q3: If your views about Tuesdays and Wednesdays
differ, why is this?
Several Members who gave reasons for having given
different replies explained that this was offered as a compromise
or to allow one evening for Private Members' Bills (instead of
Fridays), but without giving a reason for their choice of day.
Those who gave a reason for their preference for a particular
day chose Wednesday for a sitting beginning at 11.30 am for the
following reasons:
—so that Prime Minister's Questions could continue
to be taken at 12 noon (12)
—because standing committees do not usually
meet on Wednesdays (6).
Q4b: (For those supporting a 9.25 am start for
select/standing committees) How would you suggest that the balance
of time be found?
Of the 172 who supported a 9.25 am start, most made
no suggestions for making up the balance of time. Those who did
suggested the following:
Sit later in afternoon/into evening (22)
Speeches should be shorter (11)
Meet in evening (4)
Start earlier in afternoon (4)
Overlap with Question Time (9)
Split deliberative and evidence-taking meetings of
select committees (1)
More sittings (rather than longer ones) (2)
Meet on Monday afternoons (1)
Reduce House sitting hours by ½ hour (1)
Q4a/c: Other comments about committee times:
Westminster Hall should:
not clash with Chamber
meet in evenings (3)
sit on Monday
To avoid divisions disrupting afternoon committees:
Have voting at fixed times (2)
Re-examine voting systems
Concentrate committee meetings on one day, with:
no sitting in House (2)
only Question Time in House
Committees should sit Monday-Thursday afternoon:
start main business in House one hour earlier
Q5: Other comments
No hours are family friendly for those with constituencies
far from Westminster (6)
Take Private Members' Bills in Westminster Hall with
deferred divisions
Nowhere to eat in evenings (4)
Public mistakenly believe that sitting hours have
been shortened
Chamber time is wasted by unnecessary debates
On Mondays:
Change to new hours
Start/finish earlier, but not as early as Tues/Wed
(2)
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Start and finish earlier than the current times (6)
Start and finish one hour later than current times
On Thursdays:
Finish earlier (8)
Finish later—at 7 pm
Have a lunch break
For tours:
Open Chamber at other times
Keep Monday slots for those who can't reach Westminster
by 9.30 am (3)
With new hours:
House often sits beyond 7: have greater certainty
of sitting hours to allow planning (8)
Members often not actually free till 8 or 9.30 pm
(2)
No debates (excluding adjournments) after 10 pm
Have some non-sitting Mondays
The September sittings are a joke/should happen only
when necessary/achieve nothing (4)
Take less time voting
Aim at 48 hour working week including travelling
Staff should be/should have been consulted
Consider views of constituents, media and staff
Have adjournment debates (incl. Government ones)
in evening: leave daytime for legislation
Press requirements should not affect sitting times
Too much legislation
Have extra time for debates if there are statements
(2)
Why should the House need more than 7½ hours?
Longer sittings but fewer sitting weeks
When business collapses early, have an open adjournment
debate (like the pre-recess adjournment)
[Note: not all suggestions made have been included
in the above list: some points made overlapped with reasons given
in answer to Q 2.]
| 
