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Administration Committee

I must apologise to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to the House, because my presence has been required on the Committee that is considering regulations to do with the Water Act 2003. My Whips informed me that it was a three-line Whip, and in case I had difficulty in recognising three lines on a piece of paper they carefully wrote it in words as well. I apologise to the House for my apparent discourtesy in nipping in and out during the speeches. Select Committees of this House have proved themselves, not only in the last Parliament but in previous Parliaments, to be a tremendous advance because they have the time and opportunity to scrutinise Government Ministers. Competent Ministers have no difficulty in dealing with Select Committees as long as they know their own subject, because they are prepared to engage in the sort of exchange that good scrutiny encompasses by explaining their policies and where they want to go with them and being prepared to take on difficult arguments. I pay tribute to the Secretary of State for Transport, who is not only happy to come and talk to us about the things that he wants to do but prepared to defend them. I will not say that he always takes notice of everything that my Committee says—would that he did—but he is extremely careful to engage it in discussing the detailed work of Government. What more can one ask of any Secretary of State? Some Ministers are capable not only of benefiting from the system of Select Committees but of producing positive results. However, I voted against paying Chairmen for a simple reason. Any Government, offered the opportunity to exercise patronage, in whatever form, will take that opportunity. It is not particularly surprising that when politicians are offered a weapon they use it, and in my experience they do so consistently. There are one or two things that the House of Commons should be very clear about. It is not acceptable for a Minister to leave Government and instantly move over to become the Chairman of a Select Committee, because what they are doing, in effect, is giving a verdict on the work that they have just performed, which inevitably means that, whatever their instincts, they will not come up with the degree of perception that is necessary for them to be a good Chairman. It is essential that we in this House insist that the—always unwritten but very clear—rule that chairmanships go to Back-Bench Members is supported in every conceivable way.