The Chairman of Committees
That the 1st Report from the Select Committee (Backbench Questions for Short Debate: Grand Committee Sitting Hours) (HL Paper 19) be agreed to.
The Chairman of Committees (Lord Sewel)
My Lords, this report follows on from the decision on Back-Bench debates taken by the House in April. At that time, the Leader of the House proposed an increase in the number of Back-Bench QSDs. The report enables this intention to be implemented. It recommends that on days when a Grand Committee sits solely to consider Back-Bench Questions for Short Debate, the duration of such sittings should be extended from four hours to five hours. I beg to move.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
Can the noble Lord give us an absolute assurance that unlike the Procedure Committee’s report in the last Session, this will not have unintended consequences?
The Chairman of Committees
I think the logical problem at this stage is that I can give no guarantee that it will not have unintended consequences, because they will by definition be unintended.
Lord Geddes
Did the Procedure Committee give any consideration to extending the time above one hour if, for instance, more than 20 people were down to speak on a particular QSD, thereby limiting those Back-Bench speeches to two minutes?
The Chairman of Committees
I appreciate the noble Lord’s point, but on this occasion the committee did not give specific consideration to that. However, I am aware that speeches are increasingly being limited to a very short period of time indeed.
Motion agreed.