HC Deb 09 December 1970 vol 808 cc412-3
37. Mr. Turton

asked the Lord President of the Council if he will move to amend the Standing Orders to provide that the House should meet for Prayers at 2.20 p.m. in order to allow a longer period for Questions, as recommended by the Select Committee on Procedure in its Second Report of last Session on Question Time.

Mr. Whitelaw

As I have already indicated, my advice to the House is that we should wait a little longer, say until early after Christmas, before considering this and any other changes in Question Time procedures.

Mr. Turton

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is considerable dissatisfaction at the way Question Time is going at present and that many hon. Members are not able to get Oral Answers to Questions? Will he now open conversations through the usual channels and unusual channels to see which of the recommendations of the Select Committee on Procedure would command majority support?

Mr. Whitelaw

Yes, certainly I will. I will go somewhat further than that. I will certainly consider the possibility after Christmas of giving the House an opportunity to decide which of the various methods hon. Members would themselves prefer.

Mr. Crosland

Will the Lord President bear in mind the fact that the difficulty of getting answers to Questions is nothing to do with the time we have? It is due to the fact that Ministers either cannot or will not give us the answers.

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind also that, as a result of the creation of the two very large Departments, the Environment and Trade and Industry, it is almost certain that we are now getting less time on what used to be the constituents of those Departments than we formerly did?

Mr. Whitelaw

I would enjoy a discussion with the right hon. Gentleman on the relative merits of the answers to Questions given by various Governments, but I do not think that now is the moment for that. On the right hon. Gentleman's more important and second point, this is something that we should certainly consider. After all, everyone recognises that the new Departments are a development which in all their different aspects must be carefully considered. Question Time is one of these, and we will look at this.

Mr. Kenneth Lewis

While the present temporary—we hope—situation persists, will my right hon. Friend consider actually extending the period for Prayers, since it is obviously now more conducive to meditation than altercation?

Mr. Whitelaw

I do not really quite understand, so I think I had better not try to answer.

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