Housing Benefit (Withholding of Payment) Bill
10:30 am
Mr James Clappison (Hertsmere, Conservative)
May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship once again, Mr. O'Hara?
I welcome the sittings motion moved by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead. On Second Reading, the Bill was broadly welcomed by the Opposition and by the House as a whole. We do not want to jeopardise its progress in any way—indeed, we want it to make progress. That, however, is subject to giving it as much detailed consideration as can properly be given to a Bill in the normal course of events. The sittings motion is appropriate in the circumstances.
The Bill has been before hon. Members for some time, and the Opposition have tabled amendments to it. We understand from the Minister's letter that the Government intend to propose extensive amendments. We do not yet know how extensive they may be, but we suspect that they will leave us with a Bill with the same objectives under the same title, but in a different form. We would like the opportunity to give appropriate debate to those amendments at the appropriate time.
We pressed the Government on the matter last Wednesday evening when the money resolution was debated in the House. It is important that amendments are seen as soon as possible and that we have the opportunity to debate them, and it is our duty as the Opposition to press the Government on the issue. The Minister has been open about his intentions, and we are grateful to him for his correspondence, but it is important that extensive amendments to a private Member's Bill are tabled as early as possible so that
proper debate of a Bill is possible. In that light, the sittings motion sets out an appropriate way for the Committee to proceed.