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Registration of Nannies

Mr. Keith Vaz accordingly presented a Bill to extend local authority registers under the Children Act 1989 to cover nannies who look after children on domestic premises: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Thursday 12 November, and to be printed [Bill 258].

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SCOTLAND BILL (PROGRAMME)

Ordered,



    3.--(1) This paragraph applies for the purpose of bringing any proceedings to a conclusion in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2.


    (2) The Speaker shall first put forthwith any Question already proposed from the Chair and not yet decided.


    (3) If that Question is for the amendment of a Lords Amendment the Speaker shall then put forthwith--


    (a) the Question on any further amendment to the Lords Amendment moved by a Minister of the Crown, and
    (b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House agrees or disagrees with the Lords in the Amendment or (as the case may be) in the Amendment as amended.
    (4) The Speaker shall then designate such of the remaining Lords Amendments as appear to the Speaker to involve questions of Privilege.
    (5) The Speaker shall then put forthwith--
    (a) the Question on any Amendment moved by a Minister of the Crown, to a Lords Amendment, and
    (b) the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House agrees or disagrees with the Lords in the Amendment or (as the case may be) in the Amendment as amended.
    (6) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown, That this House disagrees with the Lords in a Lords Amendment.
    (7) The Speaker shall then put forthwith with respect to the Lords Amendments designated by the Speaker which have not been disposed of the Question, That this House agrees with the Lords in those Amendments.
    (8) The Speaker shall then put forthwith the Question, That this House agrees with the Lords in all the remaining Lords Amendments.

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    (9) As soon as the House has agreed or disagreed with the Lords in any of their Amendments, or disposed of an Amendment relevant to a Lords Amendment which has been disagreed to, the Speaker shall put forthwith a separate Question on any other Amendment which is moved by a Minister of the Crown and relevant to the Lords Amendment.
    (10) The Speaker shall put forthwith the Question on any Motion made by a Minister of the Crown for the appointment, nomination and quorum of a Committee to draw up Reasons and the appointment of its Chairman.
    (11) Proceedings under this paragraph shall not be interrupted under any Standing Order relating to the sittings of the House.
    Supplemental
    4. A Committee appointed to draw up Reasons shall report before the conclusion of the sitting at which it is appointed.
    5. Standing Order No. 15(1) (Exempted business) shall apply to proceedings on Consideration of the Lords Amendments--
    (a) on the first allotted day, for any part of the period of six and a half hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Bill which falls after Ten o'clock, and
    (b) on the second allotted day, for any part of the period of three and a half hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Bill which falls after Ten o'clock.
    Proceedings on the Motion, if not previously concluded, will be brought to a conclusion 45 minutes after their commencement (Order of 13th January).--[Mr. Allen.]

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Orders of the Day

Scotland Bill

[1st Allotted Day]

Lords amendments considered.

Schedule 1

Constituencies, regions and regional members

Lords amendment: No. 215, in page 57, line 5, after ("constituencies") insert ("of the Scottish Parliament")

3.45 pm

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Donald Dewar): I beg to move, That this House disagrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Madam Speaker: With this, it will be convenient to consider Lords amendments Nos. 216 to 220.

Mr. Dewar: Today, we continue a long saga that has become part of our lives over the past year or so. I offer hon. Members the consolation that we approach the end, as we are now dealing with Lords amendments to the Scotland Bill. Today and next Monday, the House will be asked to consider the formidable number of amendments made to the Bill during its passage through the Lords. The Government have taken, as is traditional and proper, particularly with such complex legislation, the opportunity to strengthen and improve the Bill against its drafting when it left the House last May. I hope to persuade hon. Members that many of the changes made in their lordships' House are both desirable and to be welcomed. I am sure that the Opposition Front-Bench teams will join me in the task, looking squarely, but, I hope, briefly in most cases, at the merits of each proposal as it comes along.

It is therefore perhaps a little ironic that I have to start by asking the House to disagree with the Lords on a group of amendments that relate to a matter of some importance: the size of the Scottish Parliament, and whether it should remain, irrespective of what may happen in other parts of Scotland's parliamentary representation, at 129 Members. Let me say immediately that I believe that there is a genuine desire among most hon. Members--and among Members in the Lords--who have debated the matter to ensure that the Scottish Parliament can operate effectively and on a basis that will inspire and command public confidence. To some Conservative Members, its size is the most important or determining factor of its ability to do that. I do not agree, and want to advance some arguments to support my point of view. We believe that quality is important and that the working methods of the Parliament are an important part of the process. In addition, the involvement of the wider community beyond Parliament is an element in the general process and in the preparations made to allow the Parliament to operate effectively.

I pay tribute to the consultative steering group, to the Minister for Home Affairs and Devolution and to the representatives of other parties who have joined him on the steering group. Great progress has been made: one or two ideas have been picked up and knocked about in the public press in a way that I regret, but that is the price

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one pays for innovating and producing ideas that are novel and depart somewhat from the precedents accepted here. We have always made it clear that we would take the best from this place, but that, if Scottish conditions made it necessary to think anew, we would not hesitate to do so.

There are points of principle involved in the Bill and in the amendments to it. One point of principle that those of us on the Government Benches think is of some significance and importance is that there is genuine virtue in a linkage between Westminster and Scottish parliamentary constituencies; and we see merit in coterminous boundaries. The White Paper "Scotland's Parliament", which is familiar to all hon. Members who have the staying power still to participate in these debates, spelt out clearly the importance that the Government attach to maintaining common boundaries for the constituencies at Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament.

Such an approach will strengthen the integrity of the United Kingdom. In addition, there are benefits from the point of view of constituents, because common boundaries will make representation easier to access. All of us know from our own experience the surprising amount of confusion that often prevails in the minds of our constituents about how the various branches and levels of government interact and interrelate. I am often more clearly recognised by my constituents as a surrogate local councillor than as a Member of Parliament. I realised early in my career that, when people approach me with problems, delivering a mini penny lecture on the fact that housing allocation is not my responsibility as a Member of Parliament, or that I am not responsible for some other aspect of local government work, does not go down well.

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