PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS (Hansard, 16 July 1979)

§ Mr. Cryer
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You will recall that I raised a point of order last Friday in the presence of the Leader of the House about the lack of parliamentary papers. At that time, you said that you had received no requests. Clearly, my point of order in the presence of the Leader of the House must have brought the matter to his attention. In view of the fact that the dispute has been running for several weeks, which is an illustration of the crass way in which the Tory Government are handling industrial relations, I wonder whether a statement could be made today on the matter. Some of us are beginning to feel that the dispute is being allowed to run because the absence of Hansard in its proper form is a form of cover-up for the probing questions asked by the Opposition. Those questions and answers normally receive fairly wide publicity but they cannot now because of the absence of Hansard. I hope that you, Mr. Speaker, can assist in the matter.

§ Mr. Speaker
I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman. The whole House faces the difficulty to which he has referred. However, I have received no requests for a statement today.

§ Mr. Ioan Evans
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. It is widely reported in the newspapers today that there is to be a statement on regional development in the form of a written answer. I understand that there has been some 1025 rearrangement of matters but if that statement is to be in the form of a written answer it woud be difficult for hon. Members to read it because Hansard is not being published. As the press has been informed of the change, the House should now be informed about the matter.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Member was here during Welsh questions and a statement was made in reply to a question. It is not for me to defend either Front Bench, but I heard the Secretary of State for Wales say that there would be a statement tomorrow.

§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Norman St. John-Stevas)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I confirm that there will be an oral statement tomorrow. It is not the policy of the Government to make major policy statements by means of a written answer, whatever the press may say.

§ Mr. Foot
Further to that point of order. Mr. Speaker. I am gratified to hear the right hon. Gentleman's comments on the matter. However, before making a statement in those terms he should have examined the intention of the Government this morning.

§ Mr. St. John-Stevas
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I examined carefully the intention of the Government in the light of what I read in the press. I am glad to say that the report in the press has not been borne out.

§ Mr. Cryer
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. My point of order relates to the previous one about the absence of Hansard. In the ordinary course of events, statements can be read in Hansard on the following day. Therefore, I wonder whether the Leader of the House could arrange for tomorrow's statement to be available in the Vote Office at 3.30 p.m. for all Back Benchers to read—not just Front Benchers and selected leaders of selected parties. I find it offensive that the press hacks in the Lobby receive copies of statements before they are distributed in the House.

§ Mr. Speaker
The House is deeply indebted to those who go to great lengths to ensure that we get the photostat copy 1026 that is made available for Members. That entails much extra work for certain staff who serve the House. We shall do our best to ensure that the copy for which the hon. Gentleman asks is available on the following day.

§ Mr. St. John-Stevas
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Civil Service Department is pursuing the matter. Some progress has been made and the arbitration procedures are open. It is not only hon. Members' questions that one regrets not reading; one cannot read easily the answers of the Government, and that is a much greater loss.

Dr. J. Dickson Mahon
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Despite what the Chancellor has said, is it not true that because of the deficiency referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) the change in the farming-out arrangements regarding the British National Oil Corporation was in the form of a written answer, which has still not been read? Will the Leader of the House assure us that there will be a statement on BNOC in the next 10 days and tell us when that statement will be made?

§ Mr. Speaker
This is not the time for business questions. I am taking points of order.

§ Mr. William Hamilton
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I pursue the original question raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) relating to parliamentary papers? The Leader of the House will be aware that we had an important debate on Friday on the Abortion (Amendment) Bill. When I made inquiries at the Vote Office I found that there were no copies of the Lane report available either from the Vote Office or from Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Nor were copies available of the reports of the two Select Committees on the same subject.
Will the Leader of the House give an assurance that all those documents will be freely available to members of the Committee dealing with the Bill before we reach the Committee stage?

§ Mr. St. John-Stevas
Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. I will do all that I can to facilitate the provision of those documents.

§ Mr. David Price
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Following the questions raised about the absence of parliamentary papers, may I ask my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House whether he thinks that it might be appropriate for a Select Committee to look into the problem?
If we are to have free industrial negotiations and the right to strike, it is inevitable that the House will suffer from time to time. At the same time, the House suffers from the lack of parliamentary papers.
There is a dichotomy here. Will my right hon. Friend consider whether we ought to have a Select Committee to look into the methods of dealing with these matters? We are extremely grateful for the work put into producing temporary papers, but they are inadequate.