HC Deb 18 July 1991 vol 195 cc607-8

125A—(1) There shall be a Select Committee, to be called the Finance and Services Committee, to consider expenditure on and the administration of services for the House and—

  1. (a) with the assistance of the Board of Management, to prepare the Estimates for the Votes for House of Commons (Administration) and (Works) for submission to the House of Commons Commission;
  2. (b) to monitor the financial performance of the Departments of the House; and
  3. (c) to report to the House of Commons Commission or Mr. Speaker on the financial and administrative implications of recommendations made to them by any of the Committees appointed under Standing Orders No. 125 (Domestic Committees) or No. 125B (Select Committee on Broadcasting).

(2) The Committee shall consist of not more than eight Members, and the quorum shall be three.

(3) The Committee shall be assisted by the Accounting Officer and by other Officers of the House appropriate to the matters under consideration.

(4) The Committee shall have power—

  1. (a) to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to report from time to time;
  2. (b) to communicate to any committee appointed under Standing Orders No. 125 (Domestic Committees) and No. 125B (Select Committee on Broadcasting), or to the House of Commons Commission, its evidence or any other documents relating to matters of common interest; and
  3. (c) to meet concurrently with any committee appointed under Standing Orders No. 125 (Domestic Committees) or No. 125B (Select Committee on Broadcasting), for the purpose of deliberating or taking evidence.

(5) The Committee shall have leave to meet concurrently with any committee of the Lords on House of Lords Offices or any sub-committee of that committee, for the purpose of deliberating or taking evidence, and to communicate to any such committee or sub-committee its evidence or any other documents relating to matters of common interest.

(6) Unless the House otherwise orders, all Members nominated to the committee shall continue to be members of the committee for the remainder of the Parliament.

The House will know that the Ibbs report, the recommendations of which are closely followed in the motion, emphasised the need for clearer lines of responsibility throughout the House's services. The House of Commons Commission and, in some instances, you, Mr. Speaker, alone are at the apex of the system, but the Commission needs advice on policies from bodies composed of hon. Members. That will be provided by the four new domestic Committees which will make recommendations directly to the Commission and to the Speaker as appropriate.

Administration will be vested in the heads of Departments who must be allowed to take responsibility for the day-to-day management of services. Recommendations from the domestic Committees which go to the Commission will usually have financial implications. Under the present system it is no one's job to make a close assessment of the costs of implementation and to set orders of priority. I believe that that is a great weakness in the present system. Under the Ibbs proposals, the Commission will remain the supreme financial authority, but advice on such matters will be available from the new Finance and Services Committee, and I believe that that is also a major improvement.

The division of responsibility is reasonably clear from the proposed titles of the Committees and is as close as possible to a logical division of the domestic affairs of the House. Few of the issues are entirely free standing, however, and for that reason the new Standing Orders empower the Committees to meet jointly.

I am pleased to tell the House that extremely good progress has been made in implementing the proposals of the Ibbs report. The House will be aware that the two Directors of Finance Administration and of Works have been appointed and will shortly assume their responsibilities. I hope that the whole House will agree that there is now every reason to press on with establishing these important new Committees. I commend the motion to the House.

9.58 pm
Mr. Stanley Orme (Salford, East)

On behalf of the Opposition, I welcome the motion. As Chairman of the Administration and Accommodation Sub-Committee I, like many hon. Members, am aware that the system needs to be tightened. The route to decision making, and not least to finance, should be sharpened. I hope that the Ibbs proposals will take us some way to a more efficient management of our own affairs within the Palace of Westminster. They go a considerable way in that direction— some of my colleagues would have preferred an even more direct route. They represent a positive and useful step, and I support the motion on behalf of the Opposition.

Question put and agreed to

Mr. Speaker

Now that the Services Committee has ended its life, perhaps it would be an appropriate moment for me to express my appreciation for the advice it has given me since I became Speaker of the House.