§ 47. Mr. ButlerTo ask the Lord President of the Council whether he is now in a position to bring forward proposals to reduce the number of late sitting hours in the House of Commons.
§ Mr. MacGregorThis is one of the issues that the Select Committee on Sittings of the House is considering, and we await its recommendations.
One recent improvement has been that, since they were set up in January, the European Standing Committees have made a significant contribution to reducing the burden of late night debates on the Floor. Some 20 or so of their debates would probably have been held on the Floor after 10 pm under the previous arrangements.