§ The Earl of SwintonMy Lords, at a convenient moment after 3.30 this afternoon my noble friend Lady Young will, with the leave of the House, repeat a Statement that is to be made in another place on the Foreign Affairs Council on 18th and 19th June. This will be followed by a Statement which, with the leave of the House, I shall repeat on the reform of the 16-plus examinations.
With the leave of the House, I should like, in the normal way, to say a brief word about the timing of the two short debates this afternoon. It is normal in the case of short debates to suggest a maximum length of time for speeches. The principle which is adopted is that the mover shall 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. On that basis, I should be grateful if subsequent speakers in the debate of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Putney, would limit their speeches to a maximum of six minutes, and speakers in the debate of the noble Baroness, Lady Lockwood, to a maximum of five minutes. Perhaps I may add that if any noble Lord should speak at greater length he would do so at the expense of later speakers in the debate.