House of Lords: Remote Proceedings
Debate between Lord McFall of Alcluith and Lord Baker of Dorking
The Senior Deputy Speaker
On the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, the House of Commons authorities are developing the functionality for remote voting, but use of it would need to be approved by that House. The House of Lords could develop a similar platform if it desired, but due to the demands on the Parliamentary Digital Service, this would be at the expense of other work. Because of the differences in the technical platforms used by each House, such functionality would take a number of weeks to develop. I am open to the noble Baroness and others keeping in touch with me on this issue.
On the second point raised by the noble Baroness, I am aware from my conversations with her in the past that she wishes for Greens and non-affiliated Members to get their fair share of Questions and other business in this Chamber. I will ensure that they get that. There is not much in the guidance at the moment, but as a first step, I will bring her point to the Procedure Committee.
Lord Baker of Dorking (Con)
My Lords, many congratulations to the team that has made this technological advance available. It is an historic day because we have shown that you can hold a Government to account not necessarily by being physically present in a Chamber in London. Whatever happens to our House, this will have some future in it.
The really exciting time is now Questions because here we are, 35 MPs, participating together. There is no other event envisaged where I can see that happening again in the technological future of the House. However, that means that 800 people have not had a chance to ask a question. Therefore, the number of Questions should be doubled to eight so that more Questions are asked and more Peers can get involved. Virtually, Question Time becomes much more important than it is physically.
The Senior Deputy Speaker
I agree with the noble Lord on Questions and scrutiny; given the environment today, scrutiny is extremely important for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. His suggestion of doubling the number of Questions to eight could be considered by the Procedure Committee. At our meeting next week, I will re-emphasise his point; if I meet him informally, he will no doubt give me some more advice on what initiatives we can take in this area.