Memorandum from Mr Dai Davies MP (M15)
STRENGTHENING THE
ROLE OF
THE BACKBENCHER
Having been elected to Parliament at a by-election
in June 2006, and not being a member of a political party the
lack of a formal structured induction course I found it very difficult
to integrate fully into the workings of the House of Commons.
The respective departments such as the Speaker's Office, Serjeant
at Arms, Finance etc give as much time as they can but I feel
that there should be a dedicated resource and time set aside from
the time before signing in to walk the newly elected Member through
the process and responsibility of Parliament.
The information packs available are very comprehensive
but I feel personal contact is essential in the initial few weeks.
Possibly consider the introduction of a mentoring scheme.
The process of the House can be extremely daunting
for the newly elected MP. Some of the procedures in the Chamber
in terms of how Members are expected to address each other I believe
need to be reviewed especially if we are to encourage new and
young people to take an interest in politics.
There should be greater encouragement and opportunity
for all Members to be part of a select committee. There should
be a greater role for the All Party Parliamentary Groups which
would allow new Members to get involved in debate in a more informal
atmosphere.
The Chamber is a very imposing environment and
a relaxation of traditional formal address would help to speed
up the process of debate.
The role of the Speaker should be maintained
but perhaps a review of chairing debate should be carried out
in terms of the types of contributions made by Members so that
the repeating of a point over and over again could be curtailed
thus also speeding up the process.
December 2006
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