§ As amended (in the Committee and in the Standing Committee), considered.
§
Ordered,
That on consideration of the Finance Bill any Amendments relating to the Clauses and Schedules be considered in the following order of Clauses and Schedules, namely, Clauses 1 to 4; Schedule 1; Clause 5; Schedule 2; Clauses 6 to 10, Schedule 3; Clauses 11 and 12; Schedule 4; Clause 13; Schedule 5; Clauses 14 to 40; Schedule 6; Clauses 41 to 51; Schedule 7; Clauses 52 to 55; Schedule 8; Clauses 56 to 73; Schedules 9 to 11;Clauses 74 to 77; Schedule 12; Clauses 78 to 79; Schedule 13; Clauses 80 to 87; Schedule 14; Clauses 88 and 89; Schedule 15; Clauses 90 to 92; Schedules 16 and 17; Clauses 93 to 95; Schedule 18; Clauses 96 and 97; Schedule 19; Clauses 98 to 102; Schedule 20; Clause 103; Schedule 21; Clause 104; Schedule 22; Clauses 105 to 107; Schedule 23; Clauses 108 and 109; Schedule 24; Clauses 110 to 118; Schedules 25 and 26; Clause 119; Schedule 27; Clauses 120 to 131; Schedule 28.—[Mr. Higgins.]
§ 4.2 p.m.
§ Mr. Hugh Jenkins (Putney)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am aware that I cannot question your provisional selection of Amendments to the Finance Bill and that I am therefore not free to comment on the fact that you have not included in your provisional selection any of the Amendments which seek to give zero-rating to the theatre. As I understand that one of the reasons which affected your decision in the matter was that the subject has been discussed in Committee, will you bear in mind in reaching your final selection—because this, of course, is a provisional selection—that only a small number of hon. Members were present during the Committee stage when the matter was debated. Will you be good enough also to bear in mind that a number of hon. Members, including hon. Members who were not present in the Committee—for example, from the Liberal Party—have sought to put their names on the Notice Paper to Amendments? A large number of new points have been raised in correspondence inThe Times and elsewhere.
§ Mr. SpeakerAs the hon. Member has pointed out, I have made a provisional selection. Wihout giving him any 1192 undue cause for optimism, I will consider what he said before making a final selection.
§ Mr. Tam Dalyell (West Lothian)Further to the point of order, Mr. Speaker. Would it not be possible to consider whether the selection of Amendments could not be arrived at earlier than on the Monday morning? I criticise no one, least of all yourself, Mr. Speaker. Some of us would have liked the weekend to look more closely at the Amendments which were selected.
Another point should be mentioned here, and perhaps it comes more easily from the Opposition than the Government, and that is that Treasury Ministers and their officials must have an enormous amount of work to do to prepare for all the Amendments, most of which will not be selected. One wonders whether this is a sensible use of ministerial time. Perhaps if trade associations and others who make representations made their representations a little earlier they could save a great deal of hard work by a lot of people.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe Chair also does not always get very long notice of what the following week s business will be. The hon. Member is on a point. In this case the Chair and its advisers did the best they could. It would be for the convenience of hon. Members on both sides and for both Front Benches if there could be longer notice.
§ Mr. Leslie Spriggs (St. Helens)On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I seek your guidance on new Clause 20, relating to the cost of travel to work? I see no sign of the new Clause being called.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe provisional selection has been posted up. In order to save the time of the House, the Chair is approachable in these matters. If hon. Members have points to make to the Chair about a particular Amendment or new Clause I and my advisers will be very glad to try to answer them. If every point is raised on the Floor of the House, however, it means we shall sit up even later tonight.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett (Heywood and Royton)Further to the point of order by my hon. Friend the Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell), Mr. Speaker. This is an important point because it is terribly 1193 difficult to have only about an hour or two before the debate starts to know which particular subject will be debated. I very much appreciate your problem, Mr. Speaker, of not being able to select Amendments or new Clauses before knowing when all the Amendments have been put down. It would be helpful, provided it was not on a Monday, to have a day's notice of the Amendments selected. Such an arrangement would be particularly helpful. If that were not possible, perhaps we could have notice earlier in the morning. I understand that very little can be done about relieving the Government of the job of preparing for all the Amendments, but, like my hon. Friend, I can find something better for the Government to do.
§ Mr. SpeakerI shall bear all the points in mind. Perhaps it might be better for important stages of Bills to begin on a Tuesday, rather than a Monday, but these are things to be discussed through the usual channels. They are not matters for the chair. I will bear in mind the point of the hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Joel Barnett) about the decisions being announced earlier in the morning, if that is possible. It would not have made much difference in this case.
§ Mr. DalyellMay I ask through you, Mr. Speaker, if the Chancellor would be prepared to consider the matter?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Anthony Barber)I have taken note of what has been said.