First Special Report
Introduction
1. The Committee was appointed by the House on 15
June. Its Chair was elected directly by the House on 22 June and
its members on 29 June. We met for the first time on 6 July. In
this First Special Report we set out our provisional approach
to carrying out the duties set us by the House under Standing
Order No. 152J (see Annex). This is the first business committee
of any kind to be established by the House. It would not be productive
to set out prescriptive working practices for such a novel body
from the outset. We therefore intend that our practice should
evolve over time to best suit the needs of the House and its Members.
Time for backbench business
2. The House has provided for 35 days to be devoted
to backbench business in the current session and for at least
27 of those days to be taken on the floor of the House, with the
remainder to be taken in Westminster Hall. It will remain the
Government's responsibility to designate which days shall be taken
as backbench days. We
expect to be given two or three weeks' notice of the specific
days on which backbench business will be taken. There may also
be occasions when we press the Government to allow a backbench
business day in the near future even if it is not planned.
Selection of business
3. In
making decisions on the scheduling of business we will take into
account the numerical support for a topic amongst backbench members,
but also the diversity of backbench interests; and will aim to
balance the merits of a particular proposal with a fair distribution
of days amongst different individuals, groups and interests. The
Committee will wish to ensure that a proportion of backbench time
is reserved for the debate of topical issues. We will also take
into account the existence of other opportunities for the debate
of proposed subjects which may be or have been provided either
in Government time or through Urgent Questions, adjournment debates
and other opportunities.
4. We will meet weekly to consider:
- Suggestions for debates made
directly to us by Members
- Early Day Motions tabled and the weight and breadth
of support they have received
- Public petitions recently presented to the House
- Select committee reports recently published or
due shortly to be published and perhaps new inquiries or single
evidence sessions by such committees. Select committees may also
wish to propose debates on one or two specific key recommendations
- Representations made at Business Questions for
subjects to be debated
- Petitions published on the Downing Street website—until
such time as a system for electronic petitions to the House is
implemented
- Recent written ministerial statements
- Recent ministerial announcements outside the
House
- Recent major events
- Other substantive motions.
5. When
considering the work of select committees for debate, we intend
to work closely with the Liaison Committee.
We will need to co-ordinate the decisions we take on debates to
be held during backbench time with those of the Liaison Committee
on business to be taken on Estimates days and in Westminster Hall.
We look forward to working with the Chair and members of the Liaison
Committee with the aim of connecting their work more fully with
Chamber business.
6. The 35 days allocated to backbench business include
a number of days which have until now been provided each year
in government time to debate specific subjects. In recent years
these have included:
- Defence - 5 days
- Pre-recess general adjournment debates - 4 days
- Welsh affairs - 1 day close to 1 March
- International women's day - 8 March
- Public Accounts Committee reports - 1 day (usually
taken as two half days)
- European affairs - 2 days before EU Council meetings
- Fisheries - 1 day
- Intelligence & Security Committee reports
- 1 day
7. We understand that the status of the three Estimates
days—when the House approves the Government's spending following
debates on individual estimates or select committee reports chosen
by the Liaison Committee—will remain unchanged for the time
being. We note that the House's approval on 5 July 2010 of the
Alignment (Clear Line of Sight) Project on financial reporting
to Parliament should lead to a specific motion about individual
estimates being considered on these days.
8. The Committee
intends to start from the presumption that—for
the first session—we
will continue to recommend debates on the same subjects listed
in paragraph 6 above at appropriate times,
provided there is sufficient support among Members for each such
debate. We will then review the level of participation and adjust
accordingly.
9. The Committee
seeks views on the form of the four single days of general debate
on any topic usually taken on the last day before the main recesses.
These could continue as debates in which a Member can raise any
issue and the Deputy Leader of the House gives a general reply
at the end. Another option would be to devote the first half of
such days (i.e. three hours) to a specific topical subject (with
the appropriate minister replying) and then use the remaining
half day for the normal general debate. We believe that backbench
Members should receive a substantive reply from the relevant department
to the points they raise in such debates.
10. The Committee
is keen to preserve the concept of topical debates while making
them more responsive and flexible. It
may be that the Committee will propose that time on a certain
day ahead be set aside for a topical debate of up to three hours
but not recommend the subject and exact time until, say, 48 hours
beforehand. It is important that the Government should accept
that this time will be reserved for backbench business even though
the subject for debate may not be decided until shortly before
the debate itself.
11. For main
debates the Committee intends to recommend and announce the subject
at least on the Thursday in the week before the debate and preferably
on the Thursday two weeks before, to allow Members to plan accordingly.
Form of backbench business
12. The form of any single backbench business day
may vary. The options we are considering include:
- A full day's debate (i.e. six
hours) on a single topic
- Two debates of three hours each
- A statement plus questions followed by one or
more debates.
13. We expect that most of the time allocated will
consist of whole days rather than parts of days for backbench
business. If half or quarter days are allocated (with the remainder
of the day taken by other business) we will recommend suitable
business accordingly.
14. In most cases we expect a debate to be opened
by one of the backbench Members who proposed the subject and that
a minister would speak at the end of the debate, possibly with
an Opposition speaker also taking part. The length of the debate
and any time limits (if needed) would depend on the number taking
part. We may make recommendations about how a debate be conducted,
but it will be for the occupant of the Chair to impose any time
limits on speeches.
15. Proceedings on backbench business generally may
take different forms, such as:
- Debate on a motion "That
the House has considered the matter of x", as for general
debates in the House
- Debate on a substantive motion in the terms of
an Early Day Motion already tabled
- A more specific motion recommended by this Committee,
for instance to approve certain recommendations of a select committee
report or take note of a government publication
- No substantive motion, when a select committee
report is presented, or perhaps when a minister is questioned
on a recent written ministerial statement, statutory instrument
or EU document.
16. We will explore with the Liaison Committee ways
in which select committee business can be brought to the floor
of the House. The usual procedure for debates in Westminster Hall
on select committee reports and the Government's response will
continue and there will now be at least 20 such debates a year.
We envisage other opportunities for select committee business
such as:
- A motion to approve a committee
report
- A general debate on the subject of a current
committee inquiry
- Presentation of a newly-published report by the
chair of the committee followed by questions
- A motion to amend the Standing Orders relating
to a committee.
Accountability of the Committee
to backbench Members
17. The Committee intends to be answerable for its
recommendations. To begin with the Chair will attend Business
Questions every Thursday and may respond to points made by other
Members by asking the Leader of the House a question towards the
end of Business Questions.
18. In the 15 June debate on the Standing Orders
establishing the Committee, a case was made for the Committee
to operate openly but no change was made to the House's normal
practice that select committees only meet in public when taking
oral evidence from witnesses. We intend to operate as openly as
possible and will seek to achieve this in a number of ways:
- Like other select committees
we will deliberate in private
- We will take some evidence in public—although
we expect public evidence sessions to be short. This will enable
Members to put the case publicly for particular subjects to be
debated on backbench business days. Since this will be a formal
evidence session, it may be televised and will be recorded for
broadcast on Parliament's website
- We will publish the decisions we take with the
reasons for them
- A Committee website will show requests made and
decisions taken[1]
- We are asking the Table Office to publish in
the Order Paper each sitting day a separate section for future
backbench business in the same way as there is a section (formerly
called remaining orders) for future government business.
19. We have already held a meeting with representatives
of various backbench bodies, to which the chairs of the party
backbench groups, the Liaison Committee and the smaller parties
were invited. The Committee aims to maintain close links with
these bodies to ensure that opportunities for backbench debates
are widely known and that we hear backbench opinion.
20. We are conscious that the small size of the Committee
and the parliamentary conventions on party representation on committees
exclude the minor parties from membership. We are keen to be open
to the views of the 23 Members who belong to small parties or
none and will always be willing to hear the views of such Members
in person at our meetings.
21. During the September sittings, the Committee
will hold a seminar with outside bodies to consider how backbench
business may develop in future and how best to communicate with
people outside the House. We welcome any suggestions for participants
and themes for this meeting.
How to contact the Committee
22. The Committee can be contacted at bbcom@parliament.uk
or by writing to the Chair. Members suggesting subject for debate
are asked to give some background indicating:
- Why holding a debate is important
- Which other Members are likely to take part.
- Why a debate is unlikely to be secured through
other routes, e.g. Urgent Question, opposition day, adjournment
debate, etc.
Our timetable
23. We envisage that our indicative timetable for
the determination of business to be debated will be as follows,
but will adjust it in the light of experience:
- Week 1
- i. Government indicates
to the Committee a day for backbench business to be taken in week
3 or 4
- ii. Committee advertises the opportunity
on the intranet and the Order Paper
- Week 2
i. Committee considers proposals from Members
for debate on the set day and makes decision
ii. Subject announced in Business Questions,
on website and in Order Paper
i. Timing and speaking arrangements confirmed
by Committee
ii. Backbench business day takes place.
24. In practice, we expect there to be a rolling
cycle, with the Committee meeting weekly to plan up to four weeks
ahead, receiving new proposals and advertising opportunities.
The aim would be to give as much notice as possible for main
debates and retain the ability to schedule topical debates at
shorter notice.
Conclusion
25. This is our provisional approach. Over the next
year we will adapt it as necessary to meet the needs of backbenchers,
the House and the public. We invite comments on the matters covered
by this Special Report.
1 http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/backbench-business-committee/
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