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European Union (Accessions) Bill

I beg to move,"That Sir Patrick Cormack be discharged as a member of the House of Commons Commission under the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978, and David Maclean be added." This first motion and the other three motions relating to appointments are entirely routine, but it may be for the convenience of the House if I briefly set out the circumstances underlying each one. I will then turn to the motion in the name of the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr. Lilley) relating to the House of Commons Members’ Fund. I hope that colleagues in all parts of the House will agree that the motions are uncontroversial and can certainly be supported. The motion relating to the House of Commons Commission flows from the decision by one of its three Back-Bench members, the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack), to retire because of other commitments. He has given strong and consistent service to the Commission. We thank him for that and wish him well in his work as Chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. He is to be replaced by the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border (David Maclean). I am sure that Members will have the greatest confidence in the wisdom and experience that the right hon. Gentleman will bring to the deliberations of not only the Commission but the Members Estimate Committee, given that membership of one flows from membership of the other. Of course, it is fair to say that his contribution to the House in recent years has been notable for its silence. Although we will all acknowledge that it is slightly unusual to have the Opposition Chief Whip filling a Back-Bench place on the Commission, we also understand that this is likely to be temporary only, until the Conservative party leadership contest has been settled—a subject that we are of course all fascinated by. I turn to the Public Accounts Commission motion. Under the National Audit Act 1983, seven of the nine members of the Commission are appointed by the House. Two of its members in the last Parliament—Mr. Bill O’Brien and Mr. Roy Beggs—are no longer Members of the House following the general election, thereby leaving the Commission two short of its full complement. The motion therefore proposes that their places be filled by my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Dr. Palmer) and the hon. Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea). Under the motion, the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) is replaced by the hon. Member for South Norfolk (Mr. Bacon), in recognition of the fact that the former is now a member of the shadow Cabinet. I pay tribute to the work of all three colleagues and ex-colleagues. I know that the House will have full confidence in the contributions of the new appointments. The parliamentary contributory pension fund and House of Commons Members’ Fund traditionally have an overlapping body of trustees. Two of the present trustees on both funds, Mr. John Burnett and Mr. Tony Colman, have now left the House. In addition, Lord Stewartby, who is the pensioner trustee for the pension fund, is retiring from the post. I am sure the whole House will want me to thank them—and, indeed, all the trustees who carry out time-consuming and sensitive work on our behalf—for all that they have done. Following discussions in the normal way, it is proposed that they be replaced by the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey), my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) and Lord Naseby. Again, I am sure that colleagues will want me to express our gratitude to them for taking on this work. The House of Commons Members’ Fund appropriation motion will be moved formally by the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden, as chairman of the Members’ Fund trustees. I will leave him to speak to it in more detail. In essence, it provides for the fund to have access to the Members’ estimate grant in aid and Members’ contributions, for the purpose of paying discretionary awards to former Members and their widows or widowers. It is required annually, and I ask the House to support this, and all the other, motions.