HC Deb 18 February 1897 vol 46 cc728-9
MR. F. A. CHANNING (Northampton, E.)

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury when the Civil Service Supplementary Estimates will be presented and considered in the House?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

I am afraid I cannot tell the hon. Member when the Supplementary Civil Service Estimates will be taken. They will not be taken on Friday. I may state to the House that the Estimates to be taken on Friday will be the Army Estimates, not the Civil Service Estimates on the Motion that the Speaker leave the Chair. It had been arranged to take the Civil Service Estimates, a course which the authorities of the House were of opinion would be in order, although it is a fact that the whole of the Estimates have not been circulated. Mr. Speaker has since informed me that on further consideration of the point raised now, for the first time, such a course would, in his judgment, be irregular, so the Army Estimates will be taken.

MR. CHANNING

The right hon. Gentleman has hardly answered my question when the Supplementary Estimates for Civil Service will be circulated and discussed?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

I have given all the information in my power; they will not be taken on Friday.

MR. CHANNING

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware they have not been circulated yet?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

I am as anxious as the hon. Member, and indeed more anxious, to have all the Estimates printed and circulated, but this does not rest with me, but with the Departments concerned. I will do my best.

MR. BUCHANAN

Will the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that the Motions on the Order for the Speaker to leave the Chair will not be taken until the whole of the Civil Service Estimates are printed and circulated?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

Had the hon. Gentleman done me the honour to listen to my answer, his question would have been unnecessary. What has happened is this. The authorities of the House were consulted as to whether the discussions on the Motion for the Speaker to leave the Chair would be regular, and it was the opinion of the authorities that they would be. Upon further consideration, however, it was decided they would not be in order. We shall, therefore, defer putting down the Civil Service Estimates until they are printed, and we should be directly contravening the ruling of the Chair if we did take them.

SIR C. DILKE

In what order will the Army Estimates be taken to-morrow?

THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY

They will be taken in regular order, with the exception of the Ordnance Factory Bill.