Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill (Programme) (No. 2)
First day | |
|---|---|
New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 4 | 4.00 pm on the first day |
New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 1; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 2; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 3; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 5; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 6 | 7.00 pm on the first day |
Second day | |
New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 11; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 7; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 8; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 9; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 10; New Clauses, new Schedules and amendments relating to Part 12; remaining proceedings on Consideration | Two hours after the commencement of proceedings on Consideration on the second day |
Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
We felt at the time of the original programme motion that the Government were in a bit of an unseemly rush to get through all this, and debate on the Bill has showed that although the Government might be in a rush, there was a lack of attention to detail on some of the key points that the Government might have thought important in putting together a Public Bill Committee. Not unlike proceedings today, Committee proceedings started with the Minister for Business and Enterprise racing in just after we had started.
Some things that one might usually expect a competent Government to have got together in advance of a Bill Committee did not appear to be there. For example, they did not have Members on the Committee who supported significant parts of the measure, and they clean forgot to vote against some amendments.
Everything was rather slapstick at first, but since Committee the Government’s approach has taken a slightly less savoury turn. Report was brought forward, apparently to reduce the time available for campaigning on important issues such as the measures on pub companies; there was a significant amount of public opinion that further changes were needed to those.
At 6 pm yesterday we still did not have the order in which matters would be debated today. That impacts on the capacity of hon. Members and those who want to follow the proceedings of the House to be involved. It is a disappointing turn for democracy that the Government should behave in such a shabby manner, given that we will discuss important issues.
A number of Members want to debate the issues before us, especially pub companies, so I do not propose detaining the House with a vote on this programme motion, but I do want to put on the record that the way in which this important issue has been approached, and specifically the way in which everything has been left so late, and the last-minute changes to what was to be debated and when, reflect poorly on the Government.
The Minister for Business and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)
I will be brief. I want just to clear up a couple of inaccuracies. There was time to spare in Committee; the Committee reported to the House earlier than planned by a few hours, and several of the sittings ended at 4 o’clock, rather than 5 o’clock, as agreed. It is important that the House notes and the record shows that in Committee we considered the Bill in full and had more than enough time; we did not use it all up.
Secondly, as always and as is normal, we have agreed the timings of Report through the usual channels. It is absolutely right that we should spend plenty of time on the issues on which there is the most interest. By changing the timings of Report, we have managed to expand the time available to debate pubs, not least because that seems to be the issue in the Bill that is of the greatest interest to Members. We have more time, and we would have had more still had the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) not chosen to use some of it debating how much time we should have to debate these important issues, so I think we should get on with it.
Question put and agreed to.