HL Deb 27 April 1983 vol 441 cc923-4
Lord Denham

My Lords, at a convenient moment after 3.30 this afternoon my noble friend Lord Elton will repeat a Statement on the Cable White Paper. This will be followed by my noble friend Lord Lyell who will repeat a Statement on Citizens' Advice Bureaux.

With the leave of the House, in the usual way I should like to say a word about the timing of the two Short Debates this afternoon. In accordance with the principle that the mover should be entitled to approximately 15 minutes and that the Minister should rise to reply no later than 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the debate, may I suggest that other speakers in the first debate—that in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Oram—should limit their speeches to a maximum of 11 minutes, and that other speakers in the second debate which is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hunter of Newington, should limit their speeches to a maximum of nine minutes. Perhaps I should point out that if any noble Lord should speak longer than the suggested maximum he will do so at the expense of other speakers taking part in the debate. May I also point out that the time limit for the first of the two debates will be extended by the time taken by the interruption for the two Statements. The new time limit will be announced from the Government Front Bench at the end of the speech following the interruption.