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Oral Questions

Volume 178: debated on Saturday 29 December 1990

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3.32 pm

I have a short statement to make about oral questions next Session.

The House has now agreed to the first report of the Select Committee on Procedure relating to oral questions and to certain changes in the relevant Standing Orders. The main effects of this decision will be that, as from the first day of the next Session, Wednesday 7 November, oral questions will have to he tabled in person by hon. Members, and only a limited number of oral questions tabled will be printed. The Table Office has prepared a short note explaining the exact effects of the changes, and this will be available to hon. Members in the Table Office and in the Whips' Offices.

The Procedure Committee Report left one or two matters to my discretion, in particular the exact number of questions to be printed, and the timing of the shuffle. So far as numbers are concerned, I propose initially to authorise the numbers suggested in the report. Accordingly, for those Departments answering for the whole of Question Time, a maximum of 40 questions will be printed. For those Departments answering until 3.10 or 3.15, the maximum figure will be 30. For the Prime Minister the figure will be 10. Similarly, for the smaller Departments that answer for five or 10 minutes, the maximum will also be 10. As the Procedure Committee recommended, I will review those figures from time to time in the light of experience.

The present deadline for oral questions to be included in the daily "shuffle" will be extended from 4 pm to 5 pm. Again, I will review this when the new system has been in operation for a period.

I hope that any hon. Member who is still uncertain about how the new system will operate will not hesitate to consult the Table Office before I he House is prorogued, so that the new system can get off to a smooth start on 7 November.

Order. I do not think that any points of order can arise from that—it is an Order of the House.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Could you please explain, the question of—[Interruption.]

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The question that arises is about the number of Prime Minister's questions, which has been set at 10. What will happen if hon. Members pull out, as they frequently do, both in Prime Minister's Question Time and in other Question Times? Will the maximum number of questions take it into account that some hon. Members who are lucky enough to be in the first 10 may pull out before Prime Minister's Question Time starts? Will questions then include the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th and so on, as for other Question Times, to replace the withdrawn questions?

Order. Allow me to answer one point at a time. If hon. Members table questions themselves—that will be the procedure in the future—I should be surprised if a large number of them who are in the first 10 do pull out.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. May I, on behalf of the Procedure Committee, thank you for acting within two working days of the recommendation of the House to bring in something that will, first, benefit the real Members of Parliament——

Order. I think that that is a bit provocative. We are all real Members of Parliament!

Allow me to finish my question, Sir. It will benefit real Members who do not take part in the syndicalisation of questions, which is likely——

Order. We have a heavy day ahead of us. I hope that the hon. Member is coming to a conclusion.

It is likely to result in a saving to the Exchequer of something over £3 million. The House should be grateful.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You mentioned in your remarks that the limit on Prime Minister's questions would be 10. I suggest that you look at that afresh because you will find, on examination, that in the past two or three years, there have been at least three occasions when 10 was exceeded. There was one occasion when you personally called more than 14 because people were missing and so on. It is not a matter of hon. Members pulling the questions out if they are in the first 10. Towards the end of a Session when hon. Members are missing, as on two previous occasions, we could finish up running short.

Order. We do not really want further points of order on this. It is not for me to second-guess what the Select Committee has decided and recommended. I have already said to the whole House that I shall keep t he matter under review. If I think that the maximum numbers need to be increased, that will certainly be done. I shall take one more point of order.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. You have kindly said that you will monitor the new arrangements. May I ask in particular that you pay attention to the geographical distance of some constituencies from the House? The extension from 4 o'clock to 5 o'clock will not make much difference to Members from the north of Scotland, the regions of England and Wales, who are not within easy communication distance of the House. Will you ensure that we are not in any way disadvantaged when tabling questions?

I cannot interfere with the shuffle. I hope that the hon. Lady is not asking me to do that.