Arrangement of Business
Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)
My Lords, we are about to start the first day on Report on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. There are 13 groups to be considered. I will therefore briefly remind the House of some of the key parts of the Companion, with the intention of helping us to make progress and proceed to votes. First, every Whip’s favourite line in the Companion is:
“The House has resolved ‘That speeches in this House should be shorter’”.
Secondly, and particularly relevantly, the Companion states:
“Arguments fully deployed in Committee … should not be repeated at length on Report”.
Thirdly, while interventions are in accordance with the custom of the House, they should be brief questions for clarification, and
“lengthy or frequent interventions should not be made”.
This is Report, not Committee. A collective focus on ensuring that debates are contained, with those objectives in mind, would be welcome to help the House proceed in an orderly fashion.