| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. David Stewart accordingly presented a Bill to regulate financial services: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 22 April, and to be printed [Bill 47].
26 Jan 2005 : Column 325
26 Jan 2005 : Column 327
Modernisation of the House of Commons
1.41 pm
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst): I have a brief statement to make to the House about today's debate. There will be a joint debate on the three motions in the name of the Leader of the House on sitting hours, connecting Parliament with the public and car mileage allowance. Mr. Speaker has selected all the amendments that have been tabled to the motion on sitting hours. A list has been distributed that also shows the order in which Questions will be put.
Under the order of the House on 24 January, at the end of the debate, or after three hours, I will call Members formally to move the amendments. If an amendment is agreed to, the Question will immediately be put on any consequential amendments. When the amendments have been disposed of, the Question will be put on the main Question on sitting hours, amended or not, as the case may be.
The Questions will then be put on the motions on connecting Parliament with the public and on car mileage allowance.
The Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Peter Hain): I beg to move,
That the following Amendments to Standing Orders be made with effect from the beginning of the next Parliament:
Line 1, at beginning insert 'Subject to the provisions of Standing Order No. 1B (Election of Speaker by secret ballot),'.
Line 1, leave out from 'Mondays' to 'o'clock' in line 3 and insert 'at half-past two o'clock, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at half-past eleven o'clock and on Thursdays at half-past ten'.
Line 5, at end insert 'Provided that, when the House sits on a Tuesday or Wednesday which immediately follows a periodic adjournment of more than two days or is the first day of a Session, references to specific times in the Standing Orders of this House shall apply as if that day were a Monday'.
Line 16, leave out 'Tuesdays and Wednesdays and at seven' and insert 'at seven o'clock on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and at six'.
Line 4, after 'Wednesdays', insert 'beginning at half-past nine o'clock, which shall be suspended from half-past eleven o'clock until half-past two o'clock and may then continue for up to a further two and a half hours; except that if the Tuesday or Wednesday immediately follows a periodic adjournment of the House of more than two days, the sitting shall be'.
Line 1, at beginning insert 'Subject to Standing Order No. 12 (House not to sit on certain Fridays),'.
'(1) Unless the House otherwise orders, the House shall not sit on any Friday other than those on which private Members' bills have precedence.'.
Line 7, leave out 'each of the Fridays so appointed' and insert 'a Friday on which the House is not sitting'.
Line 24, after ''mendments', insert ', and notices of motions relating to proceedings on bills committed to a standing committee,'.
Line 20, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or four' and insert ', four o'clock on Tuesday or Wednesday or three'.
Line 23, leave out from 'at' to 'and' in line 25 and insert 'the hour specified in sub-paragraph (i) above'.
Line 23, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or eight' and insert 'eight o'clock on Tuesday or Wednesday or seven'.
Line 3, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or half-past eight' and insert 'half-past eight o'clock on Tuesday or Wednesday or half-past seven'.
Line 20, leave out from 'resumed' to 'but' in line 22 and insert 'less than half an hour before the time specified in paragraph (1) of this order,',
Line 28, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or four' and insert 'four o'clock on any specified Tuesday or Wednesday or three'.
Standing Order No. 24 (Adjournment on specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration)
Line 24, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or four' and insert 'four o'clock if it is a Tuesday or Wednesday or three'.
Line 29, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or half-past ten' and insert 'half-past ten o'clock on a Tuesday or Wednesday or half-past nine'.
Line 18, leave out 'Tuesday or Wednesday or four' and insert 'four o'clock on Tuesday or Wednesday or three'.
Line 23, leave out from 'at' to 'and' in line 25 and insert 'the hour specified in sub-paragraph (a) above'.
Line 5, leave out 'ten o'clock (or on Thursday, seven o'clock)' and insert 'the moment of interruption'.
Line 13, leave out from 'Mondays' to second 'in' in line 15 and insert 'between the hours of twenty-five minutes past eleven o'clock in the morning and half-past one o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesdays or Wednesdays or between the hours of twenty-five minutes past ten o'clock in the morning and half-past twelve o'clock'.
Line 45, leave out from 'at' to the end of line 48 and insert 'the time specified in paragraph (2) of Standing Order No. 88 (Meetings of standing committees), subject to the proviso to that paragraph'.
Line 44, leave out from 'at' to the end of line 47 and insert 'the time specified in paragraph (2) of Standing Order No. 88 (Meetings of standing committees), subject to the proviso to that paragraph'.
Line 57, leave out from 'at' to end of line 60 and insert 'the time specified in paragraph (2) of Standing Order No. 88 (Meetings of standing committees), subject to the proviso to that paragraph'.
We have three motions before us: on sitting hours, connecting Parliament with the public and phasing in the lower car mileage allowance, tabled at the request of the Members Estimate Committee.
First, I shall deal with sitting hours. The House agreed to our current hours in October 2002 by a narrow margin. Many Members have always been strongly opposed to the change and others have not liked how it has worked in practice. It was my aim as Leader of the Commons to try to find a consensus, and in the past 18 months the Modernisation Committee has taken extensive evidence from Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff and other interested groups such as the Lobby journalists. We were also helped by the Procedure Committee's survey last spring and I am grateful for that. However, no consensus was achievable. Opinion remains divided, with the principal point of difference being the hours on Tuesday.
The motion is in line with the Modernisation Committee's recommendation. It looks discouragingly complex, but its purpose is simple: to make permanent our current hours on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, to bring forward the start of the sitting to 10.30 am on Thursday and to allow Standing Committees to sit an hour earlier in the afternoon. An explanatory memorandum, which sets out exactly how Standing Orders would be changed, has been made available.
My hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House has tabled amendments to the motion, which would return Tuesday to the old hours—2.30 pm to 10 pm—as on Monday. Those amendments have been tabled to assist the House to come to a clear decision, but both the Deputy Leader and I shall vote against them.
I believe strongly that the package recommended by the Modernisation Committee represents the best way forward. It maintains our new hours, while addressing the widespread concerns about the compression of the working week.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |