Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Brake Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

1. For what reasons he proposed a recess in November 2014.

[The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Tom Brake)]

Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. The recesses proposed for next year, including the one in November, reflect the need to balance the requirements of Government and Back-Bench business with the reasonable expectations of Members regarding constituency business and spending time with their families.

[Diana Johnson]

The rationale for having a few days in November was to prepare for the Queen’s Speech. Now that that has been moved to earlier in the year, and given that there are no school holidays in November, will the Deputy Leader of the House think again? A lot of people perceive that that time could be better used for pre-legislative scrutiny of Bills that come before the House that are not well drafted, and to ensure that the Prime Minister is here on a Wednesday to answer Prime Minister’s questions.

[Tom Brake]

I thank the hon. Lady for that question. I am sure she is aware that the recess dates are proposed by the Government after extensive discussion, and are agreed by the House. I did not notice any opposition to the November recess when the House agreed the recesses, although I do not know whether she raised concerns at the time with her own party managers. She will be pleased to know that the Prime Minister is in the House more frequently, particularly for oral statements, than was his predecessor.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

For how many days will the House sit in 2014, and how does that compare with other national Parliaments?

[Tom Brake]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. The House will sit for roughly 150 days, which the Procedure Committee believes is appropriate. I cannot give an exact figure because we cannot predict whether there will be the opportunity or need to recall Parliament.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Instead of having a November recess, why not get rid of the ludicrous September recall, bring the party conferences forward to earlier in September, and have a straight run through to Christmas? Would that not save a lot of money and make a lot more sense?

[Tom Brake]

I am sure Members of the House would like to consider that proposal, but the introduction of the September sitting was to avoid the long gap between the end of July and October when the House returns. Members, I hope, will agree it is useful to have that opportunity for the House to meet, because there may be important matters that we want to discuss in September.

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

May I endorse what the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) has just said? Would it make sense to start planning now not for next year but for the year after, so that if we considered a change in date parties would be able to change their conference arrangements?

[Tom Brake]

That is perhaps a matter for the parties and not within my remit. If they want to change the dates of their conferences, I suspect there would need to be all-party agreement, which might be difficult to achieve.

The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, was asked—

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Tom Brake)]

The transparency Bill completed its Committee stage in the House of Lords yesterday. In recent weeks, Ministers have met nearly 50 organisations to discuss how the non-party campaigning provisions might affect them, while exchanging correspondence with many more. We are grateful to all those groups who have made a valuable contribution to the Government’s consideration of this issue. The Bill will return to the House at some point in the new year, following the Report stage and Third Reading in the Lords.

[Pat Glass]

This is the latest pause brought about by huge public unrest over a controversial Bill. Does the Deputy Leader of the House accept that he made a mistake in not providing for pre-legislative scrutiny before pushing this controversial Bill through the House?

[Tom Brake]

The Government reorganised the debate in the Lords to enable discussion of part 2, on non-party campaigning, to take place later, thereby providing an opportunity to engage fully with organisations. I hope the hon. Lady agrees that the fact that the Government recently met 50 organisations to discuss the matter and previously, when the Bill was in the House of Commons, engaged extensively with organisations shows that there has been comprehensive consultation.

[Mr Bain]

This Bill will impede dramatically the ability of charities and many other voluntary groups to comment and campaign on issues relating to Government policy. What further opportunities will the Government allow in the other place and in this House for further scrutiny before flawed legislation causes great damage to our democracy?

[Tom Brake]

I am disappointed that the hon. Gentleman perpetuates the myth that the Bill will affect the ability of charities to campaign on policy issues. Clearly, it will not.

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend give further detail on any representations he has received under part 3 of the Bill on trade unions?

[Tom Brake]

I am afraid we have not received any representations. Of course, the Government gave Labour that opportunity, and given that its leader expressed an interest in dealing with the issue of Labour and funding, I am disappointed that he did not take up that opportunity.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

I would like to ask the Deputy Leader of the House a simple question, to which I would like a simple answer: will he set out what changes the Government plan to make as a result of the pause and consultation?

[Tom Brake]

I do not know whether the hon. Lady has been following the debate in the House of Lords, but having listened to organisations the Government clearly indicated they would respond to the issue of registration thresholds, which was of concern to smaller organisations and charities, and there might be other things, too, such as a review of the Bill after implementation and measures we could take to assist organisations worried about the reporting requirements.