05070sc.545-551

House of Commons

Session 2004 - 05
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

S.C.B.
545

House of Commons

Tuesday 22nd March 2005

Standing Committee Proceedings

Standing Committee B

Inquiries Bill [Lords]

[First and Second Sittings]

Agreed to

Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee

The Programming Sub-Committee appointed by the Speaker in respect of the Bill

agreed the following Resolution at its meeting on 21st March (Standing Order 83C):

That—

(1)
during proceedings on the Inquiries Bill [Lords] the Standing Committee

shall, in addition to its first meeting on Tuesday 22nd March at 9.25 am,

meet-

(a)
on Tuesday 22nd March at 2.30 pm;

(b)
on Thursday 24th at 9.25 am and 2.30 pm;

(2)
the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely Clauses 1 to 48,

Schedule 1, Clause 49, Schedule 2, Clause 50, Schedule 3, Clauses 51 to 54,

new Clauses, new Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill;

(3)
the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a

conclusion at 5.30 pm on Thursday 24th March.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Negatived on division  1

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  3,  at beginning insert ‘Subject to subsection (2A)’.

Mrs Anne Campbell

Negatived on division  35

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  3,  at beginning insert ‘Subject to section (Inquiries pursuant

to Resolution of both Houses of Parliament),’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  2

Clause  1,  page  1,  line  13,  at end insert—

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
546

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

‘(2A)
Any inquiry established under subsection (1) must be subject to approval by a

resolution moved by the Minister in the relevant Parliament or Assembly.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clauses 2 and 3 Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Negatived on division  3

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  13,  leave out ‘consult’ and insert ‘seek the agreement of’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Withdrawn  36

Clause  5,  page  2,  line  21,  at end insert—

‘(ia)
consult, as appropriate, on the terms of reference.’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  4

Clause  5,  page  2,  line  27,  leave out ‘consult’ and insert ‘secure the agreement of’.

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Not called  38

Clause  5,  page  2,  line  28,  at end insert ‘and may consult any other person or bodies

as he considers appropriate.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  5

Clause  6,  page  3,  line  7,  at end insert—

‘(d)
an estimate of the likely cost of an inquiry’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  6

Clause  6,  page  3,  line  11,  leave out from ‘section’ to end of line and add ‘must be

oral’.

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
547

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  7

Clause  7,  page  3,  line  17,  leave out ‘may, if he sees fit,’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  8

Clause  7,  page  3,  leave out line 22.

Mr Christopher Leslie

Not selected  32

Page  3,  line  12,  leave out Clause 7.

Clause Negatived on division.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  9

Clause  8,  page  3,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
The power to appoint a member under subsection (1)(a) is exercisable only after

consultation with the Chairman’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clauses 9 and 10 Agreed to.

Mr Christopher Leslie

Agreed to on division  33

Clause  11,  page  4,  line  31,  leave out ‘obtain the consent to that appointment of’ and

insert ‘first consult’.

Mr Christopher Leslie

Agreed to  34

Clause  11,  page  4,  line  33,  leave out ‘whose consent must be obtained’ and insert

‘to be consulted’.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
548

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  10

Clause  12,  page  5,  line  17,  leave out subsection (4) and insert—

‘(4)
In deciding whether or not it is in the public interest to appoint an assessor, the

Chairman must have regard to the need—

(a)
to ensure that the panel has available to it the necessary expertise to

undertake the inquiry; and

(b)
to avoid incurring unreasonable cost.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  11

Clause  13,  page  6,  line  11,  leave out ‘consult’ and insert ‘secure the agreement of’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Not called  16

Clause  14,  page  6,  line  30,  leave out ‘consult’ and insert ‘secure the agreement of’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  12

Clause  14,  page  6,  line  37,  at end add—

‘(c)
make an oral statement to the relevant Parliament or Assembly’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Not called  17

Clause  15,  page  7,  line  11,  leave out ‘consult’ and insert ‘secure the agreement of’.

Mr Oliver Heald

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
549

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  13

Clause  15,  page  7,  line  16,  at end insert—

‘(c)
make an oral statement to the relevant Parliament or Assembly’.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not selected  14

Page  7,  line  18,  leave out Clause 16.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not selected  15

Page  8,  line  10,  leave out Clause 17.

Clause Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  18

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  33,  after first ‘to’, insert ‘(a)’.

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Not called  39

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  34,  leave out ‘unnecessary’ and insert ‘excessive’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  19

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  34,  at end add—

‘(b)
the fact that any person or organisation who may have cause to apprehend

the possibility of criticism in course of or as a result of the proceedings

may reasonably wish to be legally represented at the inquiry’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  20

Clause  18,  page  8,  line  34,  at end add—

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
550

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

‘(4)
In making any decision as to the procedure or conduct of an inquiry, the Chairman

must within one month of the setting-up date publish an estimate of the likely cost

of the inquiry.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clause 19 Agreed to.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Withdrawn  21

Clause  20,  page  9,  line  24,  leave out ‘either or both of the following ways’ and

insert ‘the following way’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  22

Clause  20,  page  9,  line  25,  leave out paragraph (a).

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  23

Clause  20,  page  9,  line  29,  leave out ‘notice or restriction’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  24

Clause  20,  page  9,  line  32,  leave out ‘Minister or’.

Mr Oliver Heald

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

Not called  25

Clause  20,  page  10,  line  8,  at end add—

‘(6)
In proceeding under this section, the Chairman must start from the presumption

that public access should not be restricted.’.

Clause Agreed to.

Clauses 21 to 23 Agreed to.

Mr Alistair Carmichael

Mr Paul Tyler

Withdrawn  40

Clause  24,  page  11,  line  44,  leave out from ‘in’ to end of line 2 on page 12 and

insert ‘avoiding a risk of damage to the economy outweighs the public interest in the

information being revealed.’.

Clause Agreed to.

S.C.B.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 22nd March 2005
551

Inquiries Bill–[ [], continued

Clause 25 Agreed to.

[Adjourned till Thursday at 9.25 a.m