HC Deb 22 April 1996 vol 276 cc18-20
30. Mr. Flynn

To ask the Lord President of the Council what new proposals he has to streamline parliamentary procedures. [24751]

The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton)

Following the Jopling experiment last Session, the House agreed on 2 November last year to a wide range of Standing Order amendments. I have no further proposals to make at present. If the hon. Gentleman has anything specific in mind, he might like to draw it to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Chairman of the Procedure Committee.

Mr. Flynn

Was the Lord President present in the Chamber last Wednesday to witness a remarkable and possibly historic event—an hon. Member asking a genuine point of order? As most points of order are found not to be points of order and most business questions are not intended to seek a debate the following week, should not we reorganise our procedures along the lines of those in other Parliaments, which have a zero hour in which Members do not have to go through this rigmarole? While we should avoid the objections to the zero hour in the Indian Parliament to which you have referred, Madam Speaker, it is surely not beyond our wit to have a period of the day in which Members can raise matters of current importance without going through the nonsense of pretending that they are points of order or business questions.

Mr. Newton

I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Chairman of the Procedure Committee will read the hon. Gentleman's remarks with interest. After 22 years here, I rather doubt that, whatever new opportunities we create, we shall stop Members of Parliament using the opportunities that they have made for themselves by free enterprise over the years.

Mr. Biffen

Is my right hon. Friend aware that it is increasingly clear that it is a Herculean task to sustain British interest in the European Union? To that end, will he consider the procedures of this Parliament so that the House of Commons can increasingly add its voice and its votes to guide the Government on our policies in Europe so that, once again, it will be seen that this House speaks for Britain?

Mr. Newton

As I am sure my right hon. Friend is aware, the Scrutiny Committee is at this moment conducting an inquiry into matters of scrutiny here. I am due to give evidence to it tomorrow and I believe that the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor) will do so some time early next month. I shall confine myself, in response to my right hon. Friend this afternoon, to saying simply that I shall study with interest, as is proper, any conclusions and proposals that it makes in due course.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

To return to the original question on streamlining our procedures, will the Lord President acknowledge that some measures which might not appear at first sight to do so would make our work in Parliament more efficient and effective? I am thinking of measures such as improved pre-legislative consultation and greater use of Special Standing Committees. As there has been so little discussion of such proposals, and as the Jopling reforms have been so much welcomed by hon. Members on both sides of the House, will the Leader of the House tell us what steps he is willing to take to advance our shared interest in making Parliament work more effectively?

Mr. Newton

The hon. Lady knows, from the many constructive discussions that she and I have had since she has occupied her present position, that I always try to respond constructively to thinking of that kind. As I have said on a number of occasions, in ways that are open to the Government and that are welcome to the Opposition, we have manifestly advanced the cause that she has referred to by increasing considerably the publication of Bills in draft form at an early stage—in many cases, even in the Session before we think it may be possible to present them to the House. I shall seek to build on those improvements.

Mr. Fabricant

Did my right hon. Friend have an opportunity to listen to the Second Reading debate on the Broadcasting Bill? Is he aware that, because of the constraints that you laid down, Madam Speaker, even privy councillors had to limit themselves to speaking for only 10 minutes? I believe that that limit meant that they were able to concentrate their minds better, and that they were able to make concise and precise speeches. Does my right hon. Friend think it worth considering a 10-minutes rule for all debates and, possibly, suspending the House if the debate finishes before the allotted hour? Hon. Members could then be present to vote when the Division was called.

Mr. Newton

I am not sure whether the idea suggested by my hon. Friend is good. The pressure to speak in debate varies quite significantly, so it is necessary to have some flexibility. I think that the way we do business on Thursdays often enables business to proceed for a shorter time, irrespective of whether many hon. Members want to speak. That is, perhaps, a sensible move in the direction that my hon. Friend is advocating.