§ MR. CHARLES HOBHOUSE (Bristol, E.)To ask the Chairman of Ways and Means under what system the Chairmen of the Commissions appointed under The Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1899, are selected; whether there is any rule requiring the appointment of a Member of the Upper House as Chairman; and whether there is any instance of Members of both Houses sitting upon a 106 Commission when a Member of the House of Commons has been Chairman of the Commission.
(Answered by Mr. J. W. Lowther.) The system under which the Chairmen of the Commissions appointed under The Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act,1899, are chosen is that of alternative selection from the two Houses of Parliament, so far as circumstances permit. There is no rule requiring the appointment of a Member of the Upper House as Chairman, nor is there any rule requiring the appointment of a Member of the Lower House. In 1903 a Member of the House of Commons was the Chairman of a Commission composed of two Peers and two Members of the House of Commons. Out of the thirteen Commissions which have been appointed since the Act came into force six Chairmen have been appointed from the House of Lords, six from the House of Commons, and one from the extra-Parliamentary Panel.