Procedure Committee (Hansard, 21 November 1991)

§ Mr.MacGregor

The following are the principal recommendations Procedure Committee since 1983–84 which have not yet been put to the House for decision on a substantive motion:

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Session	Title of Report	HC Number	Principal recommendation not yet put to the House for decision
			(c) Easter and Whitsun Recesses to last at least one week.
			(d) Summer Recess to start no later then 21 July and end no earlier than 15 October.
			(e) Motions specifying Recess dates should not be taken on the same day as back-bench Adjournment debates following Third Reading of Consolidated Fund Bill.
1986–87 (Second)	Use of Time on the Floor	350	(a) Greater use of Special Standing Committees.
	of the House		(b) Debate on Statutory Instrument to be normally limited to 1½ hours, whenever started.
			(c) Motions to approve Statutory Instruments to stand automatically referred to a Standing Committee, subject to the ability of 20 Members (or a Minister) to table a Motion to the effect that the Instrument be debated on the Floor of the House.
			(d) No entrenchment of 10 pm rule.
			(e) No adoption of morning sittings.
			(f) No new procedure for deferred divisions.
			(g) Private Members should not be empowered to move Motion at 2.30 pm on Fridays to prolong proceedings on Private Members' Bills or Motions.
			(h) On four Fridays devoted to Private Members' Motions, debate on the first Motion should lapse at 12.30 pm
			(i) On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, on an experimental basis, an additional 20 minute Adjournment debate should be introduced.
1988–89 (First)	Conduct of Members in the Chamber and the Alleged	290	(a) No blanket increase in lengths of suspension laid down in Standing Order No. 43.
	Abuse of Parliamentary		(b) Suspension not to be accompanied by loss of salary.
	Privilege		(c) Uncompleted periods of suspension to be carried over from one Session to the next.
			(d) Period of suspension incurred under Standing Order No. 43 to take account of any previous suspensions both in current and preceding Session.
			(e) Question on Motion to suspend Member named by Chair to be put forthwith, without formal moving by Leader of House (or another Minister).
			(f) No need for new rules of order to deal with alleged abuses of parliamentary privilege.
			(g) No case for formalised right of reply for persons claiming to have been harmed by unfounded allegations made under protection of privilege.
1988–89 (Third)	The System for Determining Precedence for the Introduction of Ten Minute Rule Bills	352	(a) For an experimental period, system of queueing for Ten Minute Rule Bill 'slots' to be replaced by ballot.
1989–90 (Second)	The Working of the Select Committee System	19-I	(a) Establishment of Sub-Committee of Liaison Committee to scrutinise bids for overseas travel by Select Committee.
			(b) Amendment of Standing Order No. 116 to permit embargoed copies of Select Committee Reports to be circulated two sitting days ahead of publication (rather than 48 hours).
			(c) Financial Secretary to the Treasury to cease to be member of Public Accounts Committee.
			(d) Changes in procedure for electing Select Committee Chairmen; senior Member to take Chair instead of Clerk; seniority to be defined as for election of Speaker.
1990–91 (Third)	Parliamentary Questions	178	(a) Period of Notice for Oral Questions to be reduced from 10 to 5 sitting days.
			(b) No ration on number of written questions tabled by a Members any one day.
			(c) Various changes in rules of order governing admissibility of Parliamentary Questions.
			(d) Abolition of 'blocks' system.
			(e) Answers to Parliamentary Questions about executive agencies to appear in Official Report, preceded by introductory form of words by the relevant Minister.
			(f) Speaker to instruct Editor of Official Report not to print 'pursuant' answers in certain circumstances.
1990–91 (Fourth)	Short Speeches	569	(a) Speaker to have free hand in deciding when to impose 10 minute limit on speeches "for the convenience of the House", after the opening speeches from the Government and from the main Opposition parties.
			(b) Front bench spokesmen to aim to speak, as a matter of normal practice, for no more than 20 minutes, excluding interruptions.

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Note: It should be noted, however, that a number of the recommendations listed have been either the subject of, or relevant to, occasional general procedure debates, usually on Motions for the Adjournment of the House. Moreover, so far as the Procedure Committee's recommendations on Recess dates are concerned, the Hon. Member will know that in my Business Statement on 7 November, I repeated last year's innovation of giving much longer notice than usual of the likely dates of the Christmas and Easter Recesses. Equally, many of the Committee's outstanding recommendations about hours of sitting and the use of time on the floor of the House are directly relevant to the matters currently being considered by the Select Committee on Sittings of the House, and I understand that the Committee has access to all the relevant Procedure Committee Reports and Minutes of Evidence. Finally, I should point out that the Government has not yet replied formally to the Committee's two most recent Reports on Parliamentary Questions and Short Speeches and it is not the normal practice to ask the House to reach specific conclusions in those circumstances. So far as the Report on Short Speeches is concerned, I indicated in my recent oral evidence to the Sittings of the House Committee that I hoped they would feel able to endorse the Procedure Committee's recommendations in their own eventual Report to the House.