Clause 29
Commons Bill [Lords]
12:00 pm
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
We would expect that normally the sittings would be but, as with most statutory bodies, there may be circumstances when the associations may want to sit in private.
Each association will also have its own establishment order that will set out its functions. That order can modify the standard constitution when necessary, or can replace standard terms with terms more suited to local circumstances. Some Members may have seen the draft standard constitution and the specimen draft establishment order that we published last autumn, and which were wielded in the Chamber by the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy. They illustrate how the establishment order might integrate with and modify parts of the standard constitution. There is also an example of one possible approach to representation, and a voting mechanism for situations in which there are different interests for a group of commons.