Table
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
10:30 am
May I start our formal business by welcoming you, Mr. O'Brien, and your colleague, Mr. Sayeed, to the Chair of the Committee—the proceedings of which I am sure will be positive. My first responsibility is to move formally the resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee, which met last night. It sets out our proceedings in detail. Given the speeches that were made on Second Reading, we have decided that the order of consideration of the clauses set out in the motion is the most appropriate. We are to discuss clauses 16 to 30 first, as they aroused most interest on Second Reading.
We believe that the time that we have allowed for consideration of the Bill is absolutely adequate to enable it to be considered properly. That matter was discussed substantially by the Programming Sub-Committee last night, and I am sure that the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) will raise certain points about it. However, before the hon. Gentleman develops such an argument, I assure him that we consider that the time that we have allowed for the Bill to be debated is adequate. However, if we consider that some issues have not been ventilated properly, Mr. O'Brien, we shall ask you to consider reconvening a meeting of the Programming Sub-Committee to re-examine the timing of our sittings. We have no reason at this stage to believe that such a situation will arise, but were it to do so, we would take such a responsibility seriously. I emphasise, as I did last night, that we would take such action on the basis of the seriousness of the arguments that were advanced rather than the length of speeches.
My final point with regard to last night's resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee relates to the controversy that occurred about whether its proceedings should be held in public. As you chaired that meeting, Mr. O'Brien, you will be more than familiar with that argument. You were guided by the Clerks of the House, as were the Government, and I place it on the record that, although the Government support the House in its interpretation of the situation, we understand the arguments that were advanced at that meeting, particularly by the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson), about the need for our work to be completely accessible and open. The Government are in favour of that, and want to establish such accessibility. Following last night's meeting, we have promoted discussion through the usual channels with the authorities of the House about the way in which such issues can be dealt with in future. The outcome of such discussions is not a matter for this Committee, but we understand the force of the hon. Gentleman's argument about how such matters should be debated.
The Chairman: Before I propose the motion, I remind members of the Committee that the debate on the motion will conclude at 11 am.