Procedure of the House

Lord Sewel Excerpts

Tuesday 18th June 2013 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[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.