§ LORD MUIR MACKENZIE had on the Paper a Motion to resolve,
§ " That the Ecclesiastical Committee, being a Committee constituted under the provisions of the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, be instructed to communicate to the House with every Report made a copy of the Proceedings of the Committee in reference to the Measure, with which such Report is concerned, and that the said Proceedings be printed."
§ The noble and learned Lord said My Lords, I think that this Motion is one that may be regarded merely as one of form, and I do not imagine that it requires any elaborate explanation. It deals with the very important Committee called the Ecclesiastical Committee, which consists entirely of members of both Houses of Parliament but is not exactly in the position of what is generally known as a Joint Committee of both Houses. It happens, therefore, that the Orders and practice of the. House do not provide in the usual way for the Minutes of these Proceedings being printed and published for the use of the Committee, and in order to give information to the House on the subject. I have only to add that the noble and learned Viscount, Lord Cave, who is Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Committee, desired me to inform the House that he entirely agrees with this proposal.
42§ Moved to resolve, That the Ecclesiastical Committee, being a Committee constituted under the provisions of the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, he instructed to communicate to the House with every Report made a copy of the Proceedings of the Committee in reference to the Measure with which such Report is concerned, and that the said Proceedings be printed. —(Lord Muir Mackenzie.)
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I am not sure that there may not have been some slight misunderstanding as to the attitude of Lord Cave. I did not gather that he was substantially dissenting from this proposal, but that, in one or two respects, he would desire to see it qualified. I will speak to my noble and learned friend again.
The object of the Motion is to give publicity to the views of the dissenting minority as opposed to those expressed in the Majority Report. The Proceedings of Joint Committees set up by the Houses of Parliament are regularly published—that is the practice; but the Ecclesiastical Committee is a Committee set up by Statute. It is not in the ordinary sense a Joint Committee of Parliament, and it is not usual to publish, in fact I know of no precedents for publishing, the Proceedings of bodies of bodies, kind. For example, the Report of the Road Board is a very close analogy. That is presented annually by the Treasury under Statute, and it does not include Proceedings. If a Statutory Committee chooses to have its Proceedings made public, it is open to the Committee to incorporate the 'Proceedings in its Report, in italics or otherwise, and it would be fully open to the Committee to take that course if it desired.
I do not gather that the noble and learned Lord himself would disagree with the view that the discretion as to whether the Proceedings should be published must ultimately rest with the Committee. I think that must be accepted by most people. On the whole I should be disposed to recommend the House in this case to concur in the view which was taken by the Committee, as expressed by the Chairman, and, if the noble and learned Lord would withdraw his Mot ion for to-day, I will take an early opportunity of discussing it with him and with Lord Cave. It might then be possible to put it again on the Paper and perhaps accept it without alteration.
§ LORD MUIR MACKENZIEThe noble and learned Viscount, who was in the House until a minute ago, authorised me to say, as he could not remain in the House, that he entirely concurs in my Motion.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORAs the noble Lord has said that, he must equally allow me to say that the noble and learned Viscount did not appear to me to accept this proposal without some qualification, and it is not easy to see how he could at the same time entirely concur in the noble Lord's Motion.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.