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Report from the House of Commons Reform Committee on Rebuilding the House

I will come to the process at the end. Successive Procedure Committees have looked into aspects of streamlining the Commons and its working practices, focusing on the use of questions and the structure of Commons sittings. Looking back at past reforms in the light of today's debate, it is striking how much time it took to consider and gain agreement on such reforms, with further time being needed to implement them. For example, the idea of introducing a time limit on speeches in the Chamber was first considered in 1960. The Procedure Committee recommended a trial of the idea in 1978, but time limits were not used routinely until much more recently. Issues regarding sittings, such as whether the House could rise earlier at night, were first considered in 1975 and examined again by the Select Committee on Sittings of the House, the Jopling Committee, in the 1990s. It then took two years to implement that Committee's recommendations. So we have had not continuous processes on such matters in the past, but processes that took many decades in some cases. In the past 13 years, since the establishment of the Modernisation Committee in 1997, a more continuous stream of changes has been considered. Many changes focused on the efficiency of the House, but some measures have focused on increasing its effectiveness—an issue that a number of hon. Members have raised this evening. The introduction of Westminster Hall as a debating Chamber has allowed much more time for Back Benchers to raise issues. There were more than 330 hours of debate in Westminster Hall in the last Session, which is more time than would have been available had the House sat on every Friday of the year. There have also been important changes to allow greater topicality, including the introduction of topical debates and topical questions. More recently, Mr. Speaker has also allowed a greater use of urgent questions. Today's debate is clearly about differing views on how to improve the effectiveness of the Commons. The scale of the reforms before us is much greater than on previous occasions. Taken together, the reforms represent the largest set of changes that the House has considered for some time. It is fair to say that right hon. and hon. Members have been particularly keen to debate these reforms. We have had three Adjournment debates on this issue, the first of which was 48 hours after the Committee's report was published. We have also had two 90-minute debates in Westminster Hall about reform, and, more recently, a debate with independent Members about the revitalisation of the Commons. This subject was also raised during the pre-Christmas Adjournment debate. The House has, of course, already approved the recommendation for the election of Deputy Speakers by ballot. Before I make my final comments, I want to refer briefly to some of the comments in the Committee's report on the current operation of the system. It states:""We acknowledge the excellent work of the professional civil servants in the Chief Whip's Office, in the Leader's Office and in the Opposition Chief Whip's Office…The smooth running of the House, whatever the political arguments, owes much to the talents of those operating the business system."" I have worked with the professional civil servants in both the Chief Whips Office and the Office of the Leader of the House, and I want to thank them, particularly the staff of the Leader of the House's office, of my office and Tom Healey, who have worked hard on the motions for today's debate, as they do on all aspects of House business. We have heard many comments about Whips in the debate, and we are joined by a few of them now. The shadow Leader of the House said that he and the Opposition Chief Whip were as brothers. Perhaps, as a former Government Whip, I can continue the allusion to siblings. In keeping with the greater female representation on the Government side, I can say that our Whips Office has sisters, and I was proud to be one of that sisterhood. My right hon. and learned Friend, the Leader of the House of Commons, has been clear regarding the process required to take the Committee's report forward. Her written ministerial statement of 9 February stated that any motions that are objected to tonight, or that have amendments that Members do not wish to withdraw, will be brought back to the House as amendable motions for votes scheduled for 4 March.