Early-day Motions

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Bob Russell

Monday 6th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans]

I am most grateful for that intervention.

There is considerable and growing support from colleagues from both sides of this House for this issue to be looked at. Personally, I am very much open to debate on whether we simply abolish or dramatically reform early-day motions. I have had a number of conversations with colleagues and the staff of the Table Office and there are plenty of ideas floating around about how early-day motions can be improved. They must be made more cost-effective, but we could also look at limiting the number that an individual Member can table and sign in a single Parliament and perhaps guarantee that the few early-day motions with the most support are guaranteed to be debated.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

Following the hon. Gentleman’s theme, would he also put a limit on the number of parliamentary questions an MP could table?

[Graham Evans]

I am not sure what the answer is to that question. Perhaps we could discuss it over a cup of tea in the Tea Room later.

It might be possible to formalise the mechanism of early-day motions within the framework of the Backbench Business Committee. The hon. Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen) has suggested that Members should be able to add their name to only one early-day motion each week, with the most popular one being debated the following week. The remaining early-day motions would then fall off the agenda. That way, Members would be forced to think very carefully about which early-day motion to back, rather than mindlessly tabling and signing dozens at a time. Members would be most unlikely to want to waste their single early-day motion on something daft or a pro forma drafted by lobbyists.

As I mentioned, the current cost of EDMs could also be slashed dramatically. Last year, printing costs alone accounted for £776,000. On top of that, substantial staffing costs add up to more than £1 million a year. There is no need to print multiple copies of every EDM each sitting day. EDMs could be kept largely electronic, with paper lists printed only on request. That is nothing complicated, only common sense to help save the taxpayer substantial sums over the course of a Parliament.

I hope that I have set out a clear case why EDMs are unsustainable in their current form and how we might go about reforming them. I also hope that this debate will help inform constituents about the reality of EDMs. Perhaps many charities and businesses that spend millions hiring lobbyists will listen to tonight’s debate and be more sceptical when public affairs consultants try to convince them of their effectiveness by getting an EDM tabled. Most of all, I hope that members of the Procedure Committee are listening carefully and realise how much support there is for change. I urge them to consider EDMs carefully and begin the process of reform as soon as possible. If we get it right, we can improve Back-Bench Members’ ability to raise topical issues, get better value for taxpayers’ money and restore faith in the House. There is no better time than the present.