---

Administration Committee

I want to establish cross-party consensus on most of those changes, although I shall make some specific comments. I want to address three key points—the formation of Select Committees, the creation of the new Administration Committee and pay for Standing Committee Chairmen. Having indicated that there is a degree of consensus between Front-Bench Members on the detail of the motions, I shall begin with a clear challenge to the Government on the establishment of Select Committees. The matter has become a saga, which is not good enough, and the public cannot understand why it takes this House so long to establish Select Committees. I was first elected on 6 June 2001, which was one month later than the election in this Parliament, and the Select Committee’s were up and running for their first meetings before the summer recess. This time, with an extra month, we are just about in a position to give those Committees the opportunity to meet for a first introductory sitting before the summer recess, but three Committees will not even be able to do that, which is not good enough. The Leader of the House and the Government should set out a process by which that objective will be achieved more rapidly in future. For example, this House has lost the opportunity to hold a Liaison Committee meeting in July to address with the Prime Minister important issues that have arisen over the past few months, which is simply unacceptable. I hope that the Leader of the House will take away this summer’s experiences and return with proposals to speed up the process and to make it more effective, so that the public do not say, ““Where are the Select Committees?”” I understand the motivations of the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen), but he must consider his proposal’s practicalities. Many new Select Committee members will be new hon. Members who are finding their way in the House for the first time. An election process for individual Select Committee members is impractical. I understand why he has advanced that option and his desire to speed up the process—indeed, I share his desire to introduce a speedier process. If one examines the motions, however, it is apparent that new hon. Members form the bedrock of Select Committees, and it is unrealistic to expect them to stand for election shortly after they have arrived in this place. Although I share his aspiration to introduce a new approach to Select Committees, his approach is not the right one.