Submission from Mr Andrew Dismore MP
Thank you for the letter of 29 June 2004 concerning
the question of Parliamentary sitting hours. I am enclosing a
copy of the questionnaire which I submitted to the Procedure Committee
on this issue (not printed).
I feet extremely strongly that the new hours
do not work well on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This has significantly interfered with my ability
to carry out my constituency duties, losing three or four opportunities
a week for constituency activities which I could previously carry
out.
To get in for 11.30 am in the morning means
that I cannot do anything before setting off for the House; the
7.00 pm finish also prevents me doing anything useful in the evening.
Under the old hours, I could do things in the
morning before having to get in for 2.30 pm; if the vote was at
10.00 pm in the evening, I could do things in the evening and
get back for a 10.00 pm vote.
Moreover, the new hours make it extremely difficult
to return telephone calls if one is active in the Chamber and
on committees.
I also believe the September sittings are a
waste of time, and in my view were only brought in as a sop to
journalists who criticised the House of Commons long recess through
a lack of understanding and knowledge of how important the recess
is.
Losing a couple of weeks in September is to
take away prime time for working in the constituency.
It is very difficult to find time when the House
is not sitting, and when the schools are back, to enable, for
example, school visits.
Whilst the evenings are still relatively light
and the weather good, it is also an opportunity to go out and
about in the constituency to meet local residents.
Substituting time in October does not achieve
the same objective, because the weather is poor and the nights
have drawn in.
The work in the Commons which is done in September
does not appear to be particularly important either, with very
little that could not actually be put back until the original
sitting weeks, before the change.
I strongly urge the Committee to return to the
previous arrangements both in terms of the session and in terms
of hours.
July 2004
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