§ 38. Mrs. Eileen Gordon (Romford)If she will make a statement on the work of the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons in relation to the use of timetabling for dealing with legislation. [109657]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Privy Council Office (Mr. Paddy Tipping)The Modernisation Committee considered the use of timetabling and programme motions in its first report of the 1997–98 Session—on the legislative process—and recommended that, for a trial period, some Bills should be programmed.
§ Mrs. GordonDoes my hon. Friend agree that it is a great shame that the conclusions of a cross-party Select 1370 Committee report have been flouted by the Conservatives, whose antics in this place have been nothing short of scandalous? Will he ask the Committee to review progress on that important matter? Does he agree that the Conservatives are a bunch of sad people? Even if they have no life outside this place, we do. That is why we are in touch with reality and they have completely lost it.
§ Mr. TippingMy hon. Friend is right to say that the Government are keen on further programme motions. There is a record of working with the Opposition on such matters but, unfortunately, the number of Bills introduced under programme motions has declined. I think that that is the fault not of the official Opposition, but of the unofficial Opposition that sometimes lies behind the official Opposition. I do not want to comment on hon. Members' sad lives, but wish to congratulate the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth) on his Channel 4 award. I note that he was not here for his Defence question yesterday. One fears that his reputation does not give us joy, but is slipping.
§ Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset)Will the Minister examine carefully the effect of timetable motions? I am serving on the Standing Committee considering the Utilities Bill and am having great difficulty finding out what Labour Back Benchers have to say about it. I am also concerned that we are hearing rumours that the Bill is supposedly being blocked in Committee. That is not the case; we are making rapid progress. However, Labour Whips keep ending our sittings early, and I hope that the Minister and the President of the Council will take note of that. I suspect that the Government will suddenly decide that it wants the Committee to make more rapid progress, will pretend that it has not been doing that and will table a programme or guillotine motion for the Bill's Committee stage.
§ Mr. TippingMy right hon. Friend and I always take note of what hon. Members tell us. Labour Members on the Committee considering the Utilities Bill clearly think that it is an important piece of legislation that has consumers at its heart. I suspect that they are content with proceedings.
I was not aware that the Committee's sittings were finishing early. Sometimes that is done for the convenience of the Opposition. The hon. Gentleman asked me to take note of that point, and I shall do so.