§ 38. Sir ARNOLD WILSONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether the decision taken in 1909 to publish the proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament as independent volumes, with separate indexes, was taken on grounds of economy or for other reasons not adduced before the Select Committee on Parliamentary Debates in 1907; and whether he will consider the possibility, both on the grounds of economy 2163 and convenience, of reverting to the earlier procedure?
§ Lieut.-Colonel COLVILLEAs regards the first part of the question, I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT a copy of the relevant part of a summary of the conclusions arrived at by the Select Committee on Debates Reports, which was communicated to the Treasury at the time by your predecessor, Sir. With regard to the second part of the question, I am advised that my hon. and gallant Friend's suggestion would in fact lead to considerably larger expense, and I regret that I am unable to recommend its adoption.
§ Following is the copy:
The Select Committee on Debates Reports, in considering the arrangements to be made in future for an OFFICIAL REPORT of Debates, directed their attention in the first instance to the time at which such reports should be issued and delivered. They came unanimously to the decision that the OFFICIAL REPORT of each day's Debates in the House should be issued on the following morning; and they are also of opinion that it should be perfectly feasible, with normal sittings of the House* for this "Daily Report" of the preceding day's Debates to be delivered by the first post in the morning. A letter was accordingly sent by their direction to the Treasury, conveying their emphatic expression of the importance which they attach to this being the starting-point of the future arrangements, and saying that they quite contemplated that, in order to carry out this object, it might be necessary for the reports of Debates in the House to be issued separately from those of the House of Lords, unless their Lordships should feel disposed to make arrangements which would admit of the reports of their Lordship's House being issued at the same time as that proposed for the reports of this House—in which case this Committee would gladly facilitate any arrangement securing this object. The Committee subsequently considered whether, with this arrangement for the early delivery of a Daily Report of the Commons Debates taken in conjunction with the arrangements made by the House of Lords for the reporting of Debates in that House, it would be feasible to con- 2164 tinue a combined report of the Debates of both Houses. The Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords—Lord Onslow—was good enough to confer with the Committee, and, at his suggestion, Mr. Walter, the Official Reporter of the House of Lords, came and explained to the Committee the arrangements of the House of Lords as to the reporting of their Lordships' Debates. After hearing Mr. Walter the Committee came to the conclusion that the publication of, and the arrangements for the publication of, the Debates of this House (both in the daily reports and in bound volumes) must be quite distinct from those of the Lords reports.* In explanation of this phrase the Committee consider that in case of a sitting prolonged beyond 11.30, the conclusion of the report of the sitting should be issued with the following day's report unless the copy be received before midnight.