Oral Answers to Questions

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Six petitions have gone through the 100,000 threshold, of which four have been debated. The Hillsborough debate, one of the best that we have had this Parliament, obliged the Government to clarify their policy on the documents that they held. My hon. Friend referred to the autumn statement following shortly on from the debate on fuel, secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon). We have also had two debates on extradition and the Government have undertaken to have a look at their policy on extradition.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

I joined the Leader of the House in giving evidence to the Procedure Committee investigation into e-petitions and their short-term future. The Committee will shortly produce a report on the future of e-petitions. Will the Leader of the House guarantee that any short-term proposals for e-petitions will not be imposed on the House without a debate and vote, to avoid the problems that we had in introducing e-petitions in the first place?

[Sir George Young]

It was a pleasure to give joint evidence to the Procedure Committee last week with the hon. Lady. The Government would not want to impose any new arrangements on the House without going through the usual process of consultation. I await with interest, as I am sure she does, the outcome of the Committee’s deliberations, when we will see its proposals about how we handle e-petitions in future.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Having listened to the exchange just now, I know that the announcement and the enfranchisement of local government were welcomed on both sides of the House. I cannot promise an early debate on the cities and I do not want to get drawn into the question of which is the principal city in the east midlands. There will be an opportunity to discuss this matter, however, on Tuesday week, during the pre-recess Adjournment debate, or she might like to apply for a debate in Westminster Hall. Furthermore, there will be the normal debate on the revenue support grant early in the new year.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

I apologise in advance for not being able to stay for the whole of business questions today.

I would like to offer the Leader of the House the help of the Backbench Business Committee between now and such time as the Government’s legislation comes back from the House of Lords: we would be only too delighted to take responsibility for scheduling all debates on the Floor of the House between now and then. I hope that he will take us up on that generous offer. I also hope that he does not mind if I take this opportunity to make another public service announcement: hon. Members have until 6 pm on Monday to put in for the pre-recess Adjournment debate ballot.

[Sir George Young]

We are grateful for the public service announcement. On the hon. Lady’s generous offer to replace me as Leader of the House, I gently point out to her that I have announced six days’ business in the next two weeks, three of which are Opposition days or Backbench Business days. I do not think that she will find a more generous offer in the history of Parliament.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I think that I am right in saying that my hon. Friend raised that issue with you, Mr Speaker, at the end of the question session. As my hon. Friend implies, it is way beyond my remit to comment on the issue, but I would say that there is no evidence at all of him ever having asked a question given to him by our Whips.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

To help the Leader of the House fill the time before the end of the Session, the Backbench Business Committee will conduct a review of its work. To do that, we are sending out a feedback form asking Back Benchers about their experiences and ideas for the future of the Committee, so that we can put forward proposals for its future in the new Session. What can he do to help the Committee promote the survey and encourage Back Benchers to fill it in and return it before Christmas?

[Sir George Young]

I applaud the work that the hon. Lady and the Backbench Business Committee do, and I welcome her public service announcement about the survey. I would indeed encourage colleagues to complete and return the survey; that will, in due course, inform the review of the Backbench Business Committee that the House has committed to undertake at the end of the Committee’s first year.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend will know that the Prime Minister made a statement following the G20 meeting earlier this week. The House normally requires two days’ notice to be recalled, and as we are not sitting for only two days, I am not sure that I can respond positively to his request.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House will not be surprised to hear that I am going to raise the matter of e-petitions again. Many e-petitions are being started by national newspapers and, as a result, are breaching the 100,000 signature threshold in under a week. The fact that e-petitions are being passed on to the Backbench Business Committee means we are becoming an e-petitions committee, rather than a Backbench Business Committee. Will he consider as a matter of urgency—preferably next week—allocating time specifically for e-petitions in Westminster Hall, to give us some breathing space until the Procedure Committee makes its recommendations in a report on how to deal with e-petitions in the long run?

[Sir George Young]

I believe e-petitions have been a success in building a bridge between people and Parliament and in ensuring that the House’s diet reflects the interests of those outside. I welcome what the hon. Lady’s Committee has been able to do so far in finding time to debate e-petitions and I recognise that the success of e-petitions has increased pressure on it. We are committed to a review of the Backbench Business Committee, and concurrently there is a review of the calendar of the House. That is the right context in which to visit the issue she rightly raises of the increased pressure on her Committee to find time for debates.

Oral Answers to Questions

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

T5. Lord Taylor’s inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster recommended the banning of standing in football stadiums in the top two divisions. Does the Minister agree?

[The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)]

Yes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Heath]

I am so glad somebody does.

The hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) raises an important point. She may like to approach the Procedure Committee, because it is really a question of procedure, rather than one of access to Ministers, on which I might reasonably be expected to have some impact.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

7. If he will establish a regular day of the week in sitting time for Back-Bench business.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (Mr David Heath)]

This issue could be considered as part of the review of the operation of the Backbench Business Committee. The hon. Lady knows, because we have had discussions, that we hope that will be undertaken fairly soon.

[Natascha Engel]

I thank the Deputy Leader of the House, but what reasons can he give for not having a regular slot? Would it not just be much, much easier?

[Mr Heath]

The hon. Lady will recall that she sat on the Wright Committee. I did not, but she did and so did my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House, and we were committed to putting into effect the recommendations of the Wright Committee. She will recall that the Committee stated, in paragraph 214 of its report, that

“it could be left open to a process of regular discussion and negotiation as to which day of each week would be devoted to backbench business. This would avoid the rigidities referred to above.”

We have simply taken that recommendation—she may or may not have agreed with it, because I know she did not agree with all of what the Wright Committee recommended—and put it into effect. I have to say, there are advantages to having that flexibility.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and freedom of worship. Of course people should obey the law of the country. I will draw this incident to the attention of the Minister for Housing and Local Government, to see whether there is any action to be taken either by him or the Housing Corporation.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

The Backbench Business Committee has experienced a large increase in demand for debate time as a direct result of the introduction of e-petitions. As it is in the Leader of the House’s gift to give debate time to the Backbench Business Committee, will he recognise that his introduction of e-petitions and assigning the Backbench Business Committee to deal with them has led to this enormous increase in demand on time, and therefore allocate extra time, ring-fenced specifically for e-petitions?

[Sir George Young]

May I begin by commending the work of the Backbench Business Committee and the hon. Lady in chairing it? Three petitions have passed the threshold. Her Committee has found time for one in Westminster Hall and one in the Chamber, and the third is before her at the moment. I commend the way in which the Committee has handled those petitions. There will be an opportunity to review both the e-petition regime and the work of the Backbench Business Committee, and the Procedure Committee will conduct a broader review of the calendar, which is the context in which we should address the hon. Lady’s concern about how we might find more headroom for the Committee to respond to the many demands on its time.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

Although I welcome the participation of the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister in the debate on Monday, does the Leader of the House agree that such short-notice rescheduling could be avoided by simply giving the Backbench Business Committee a set day every week, perhaps Wednesday afternoon, in which to schedule its business? While on the subject of scheduling business, will he please confirm what time the Government will give the Committee in the Chamber between now and the end of the Session to compensate for the extended length of the Session?

[Sir George Young]

I welcome what the hon. Lady says about the Foreign Secretary’s participation in the debate, as I think it is important, as I said, that he takes part. Although a fixed day for Back-Bench business would give certainty, it would not necessarily overcome the particular problem of Ministers being unavailable on a fixed day for debates that are settled at short notice.

On the hon. Lady’s question, we have said that we will give proportionately more time to the Backbench Business Committee to reflect the longer Session. She will know from the business I have announced that the Committee is getting roughly one day a week. I said in response to her a few weeks ago that once we are through the main Report stages of the Government’s Bills, there should be more headroom in the remaining months of the Session to be more generous to the Committee with time.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 15th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I understand the forceful case that my hon. Friend makes for the restoration of assisted places. Our view is that the best way to make progress is to pursue our policy on free schools, which inevitably have a much broader catchment area than those of the independent sector, and to drive up standards for all children in all schools, which is the thrust of my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary’s policy. I hope that that will achieve the objectives of social mobility and aspiration that my hon. Friend has just enunciated.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

May I add my thanks to Sir Malcolm Jack and wish him every success for the future?

In his business statement, the Leader of the House mentioned a couple of Back-Bench debates, one on Hillsborough and the other on the riots, both of which arguably started as a result of an e-petition that reached 100,000 signatures. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Backbench Business Committee, we discussed the best way to proceed with e-petitions, and decided that in the short term we were only able to hear proposals involving e-petitions directly from Members as part of a bid, which we would consider on their merits as we would for normal bids. The Committee will continue to discuss the matter to find a long-term solution for dealing more satisfactorily with e-petitions and to ensure that, rather than becoming gimmicks, they are meaningful. Until we find such a long-term solution, will the Leader of the House commit to giving the Backbench Business Committee additional time to accommodate the new e-pressures that the Government have put on us?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady and her Committee for finding time to debate the two e-petitions that had crossed the 100,000 threshold. We note her public service announcement that e-petitions will be debated only if they are picked up by a Member and then formally presented to her for debate.

The hon. Lady asked about time for her Committee. As I have said on earlier occasions, we will honour the commitment to a minimum of 35 days in a Session, and because the current Session is longer, more than 35 days will be provided. Now that the bulk—although not all—of the legislative programme has been completed in the House of Commons, I hope that in the months and weeks ahead it may be possible to find more headroom for Backbench Business Committee debates. As is clear from the business that I have just announced, there will be more time for the Committee than there has been in recent weeks.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My right hon. Friend will know that the issue is the subject of a private Member’s Bill, and I personally have form on it, in that I supported a private Member’s Bill in a previous Parliament, proposing reform in that direction. I am not sure whether he was in Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport questions, when my hon. Friend the Member for South Thanet (Laura Sandys) raised the same issue, but in response the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose), spoke on behalf of the Government in advocating a slightly more cautious approach than that advocated by my right hon. Friend.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

The Government launched the e-petitions website on the last day before the summer recess, with little consultation, debate or agreement by the House. All of us warmly welcome the e-petitions initiative, and there is clearly a public demand for it, but, although the Government have raised public expectations, they have passed responsibility for what to do with that expectation to the Backbench Business Committee.

We are delighted to be involved with the initiative, and we very much want to ensure that it is a success, but we want to make it work properly and meaningfully. The problem—and I address this point in part to the hon. Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson)—is that we cannot schedule for debate subjects raised by e-petitions unless the Government give us time to do so. Will the Leader of the House therefore meet not just me but the Chair of the Procedure Committee, the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr Knight), to discuss allocating extra time specifically to debate e-petitions in the short term, and to look at options such as setting up a dedicated e-petitions committee in the long term?

[Sir George Young]

I am grateful for what the hon. Lady said at the beginning about e-petitions, and for making it clear that she wants the new e-petitions website to be a successful way for people to trigger debates in Parliament. We were in fact delivering a coalition agreement in going ahead with the website, which is an improvement on the No. 10 website, in that it links into the democratic process instead of ending simply at No. 10.

I am conscious that over recent weeks and months we have not been able to allocate to the Backbench Business Committee as much time as the hon. Lady would like, but that is due in part to the way in which the legislative programme impacts on the parliamentary Session. I very much hope that in the weeks and months ahead it will be possible to allocate more time to the Backbench Business Committee, and to give it the headroom that it needs to accommodate debates about e-petitions.

Two e-petitions have so far gone through the threshold, and in one case, as my hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House said in response to an oral question, the Government have responded. On Hillsborough, we have made all the papers available from the Cabinet Office to the independent panel, and we have made it clear that we have no objection to them going into the public domain, so it may be that on Hillsborough the petitioners have achieved what they wanted.

On the e-petition concerning riots, somebody may present themselves on Tuesday to the hon. Lady’s salon, and I hope that in due course it might then be possible to debate the other one that has gone through the threshold.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir George Young]

That is primarily a matter for the Backbench Business Committee, but my understanding is that if somebody goes along on a Tuesday morning and says that they are speaking on behalf of a petition, it will be neutral whether the 100,000 signatures are on an e-petition or an ink-and-pen petition. I am sure that the process is neutral, but it does require somebody to be present on a Tuesday morning to place the bid.

[Natascha Engel]

indicated assent.

[Sir George Young]

I am happy to see the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee nodding in assent at the principle of the equality of treatment that I have enunciated.

Business of the House

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend for the work that he is doing on the Procedure Committee; as he says, it is now in effect the work of two Committees—the Procedure Committee and the now defunct Modernisation Committee. We remain committed to allocating 35 days in a normal Session, plus injury time in this Session, to the Backbench Business Committee. Those days may not be allocated evenly throughout the Session, because the volume of Government legislation, and the commitment to it, means that at this time in the Session, we are doing a lot of heavy lifting, but I hope that at the beginning of a Session, and perhaps towards the end, we will be able to make up any ground that has been lost. We are committed to the 35 days, plus extra days because this Session is longer than usual.

[Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

Following on from the point raised by the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr Knight), the Leader of the House is aware that since the Whitsun pre-recess Adjournment debate two months ago, the Backbench Business Committee has been given precisely one day to allocate to debate on the Floor of the House holding the Government to account. We cannot debate matters such as ministerial statements and handheld devices, or all the business coming out of the Procedure Committee, unless the Government allocate us the time for those debates. I have repeatedly asked the Leader of the House to consider allocating a regular, weekly slot, in which Back Benchers can hold the Government to account on the Floor of the House. Has he considered that, and if he has, what are the arguments against it?

[Sir George Young]

I welcome the work that the hon. Lady does on her Committee. We have, of course, allocated a day next week to the Backbench Business Committee for the pre-recess Adjournment debate. Of the 35 days to which we are committed, we have so far provided 32, which I think is a good record, considering that there are many months of the Session still to go. She asked about a regular, weekly slot. She was a member of Wright Committee, which looked at the matter. It recognised the idea of a standard day every week, but also that leaving the matter to negotiations would avoid the rigidities of a set-day approach. The Committee’s alternative was a set number of days per Session, provided for in Standing Orders. That is the approach that we have taken. However, I take the point that the hon. Lady makes, and at the end of the Backbench Business Committee’s first year, I think we can review how it has worked and come to some conclusions on how we allocate time in future.