THE HOUSE DEPARTMENTS (Hansard, 27 June 1978)

§ Mr. William Price

I beg to move Amendment No. 16, in page 3, line 12 at end insert— (1A) In this section 'the Department of the Official Report of the House of Commons' means that branch of the Department of the Speaker which immediately before the passing of this Act had the function of producing that Report, and accordingly on that passing that branch shall become a separate department and shall cease to be part of the Department of the Speaker, without prejudice however to any power exercisable by the Commission in relation to either department under subsection (2) below.". In Committee an amendment was accepted providing that the Department of the Official Report of the House of Commons should be added to the list of House Departments in subsection (1). The Department of the Official Report is at present a constituent part of the Speaker's Department, and without a formal separate identity. The effect of the amendment is to remove any doubt as to what is meant by the Department of the Official Report of the House of Commons at subsection (1)(f), and to establish its separate identity from the Department of the Speaker as soon as the Bill is enacted.