§ 2.53 p.m.
§ EARL ST. ALDWYN rose to move,
§ That the Order of Commitment of March 25, last be discharged;
§ That a Committee of 12 Lords with the Chairman of Committees be appointed to consider the Bill, and that the Bill be committed to such Committee;
§ That the procedure of the Committee shall be, so far as possible, that of a Committee of the Whole House;
§ That the Committee shall first meet at 3 o'clock on Wednesday, April 28, and thereafter have power to adjourn from time to time;
§ That the Reports of the Committee's debates and the Minutes of the Committee's proceedings be published from day to day as appendices toHansardand the Minutes of Proceedings respectively; and
§ That the Lords following with the Chairman of Committees be named of the Committee:—
- E. Howe,
- L. Chesham,
- L. Ferrier,
- L. Fiske,
- L. Henley,
- L. Lindgren,
- L. Lucas of Chilworth,
- L. Nugent of Guildford,
- L. Pargiter,
- L. Popplewell,
- L. Sandford,
- L. Winterbottom.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, I beg leave to move the second Motion standing in the name of my noble friend the Leader of the House. Your Lordships will remember that in 1968 and in 1969 it was possible to take a Public Bill in Committee off the Floor of the House, and that this proved convenient and also helped to expedite business. It is in the hope that it will be for the benefit of the House that I am moving this Motion to-day. The Motion is in similar terms to those moved on the two previous occasions, and the Bill will, of course, be recommitted to a Committee of the Whole House at the conclusion of its Committee stage.
§ The Procedure Committee has made certain recommendations as to the pro- 918 cedure to be followed in the Committee. These recommendations are contained in the Procedure Committee's Third Report, which the House will have an opportunity of considering to-morrow. Broadly speaking, it is our hope, as indicated in the present Motion, that the procedure will be as similar as possible to that of a Committee of the Whole House. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Order of Commitment of March 25 last be discharged;
§ That a Committee of 12 Lords with the Chairman of Committee be appointed to consider the Bill, and that the Bill be committed to such Committee;
§ That the procedure of the Committee shall he, so far as possible, that of a Committee of the Whole House;
§ That the Committee shall first meet at 3 o'clock on Wednesday April 28, and thereafter have power to adjourn from time to time;
§ That the Reports of the Committee's debates and the Minutes of the Committee's proceedings be published from day to day as appendices to Hansard and the Minutes of Proceedings respectively; and
§ That the Lords following with the Chairman of Committees he named of the Committee:—
- E. Howe,
- L. Chesham,
- L. Ferrier,
- L. Fiske,
- L. Henley,
- L. Lindgren,
- L. Lucas of Chilworth,
- L. Nugent of Guildford,
- L. Pargiter,
- L. Popplewell,
- L. Sandford,
- L. Winterbottom.
§ —(Earl St. Aldwyn.)
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, we certainly welcome the continuation of this experiment. I take it that all noble Lords are aware (I assume that the arrangement is as previously) that any noble Lord can attend the Committee, can speak, and can even move Amendments, but cannot vote. This was the arrangement which I think worked satisfactorily in the past. While not necessarily wishing to encourage too many people to do so, none the less there will 919 be occasions when this might be helpful. I should be grateful if the noble Earl can confirm that that is so.
EARL ST. ALDWYNMy Lords, I am very happy to be able to confirm that what the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition has suggested is in fact the case.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.