Work and Families Bill
10:30 am
Mark Prisk (Whip, Whips; Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)
I am delighted that we are under your leadership, Mr. Bayley. I think this is the first time that I have been guided by you in the role of Chairman, and I look forward to that in the coming few days. I welcome both Ministers who are here today, and also my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing), who understands these issues far better than I ever shall. I am delighted to be here in her support.
We have before us up to six potential sittings; I know how much Labour Members are looking forward to the sittings on Tuesday next, as are Opposition Members. We will, I am sure, have the opportunity here for a full and thorough scrutiny of the issues. As the Minister rightly mentioned, we share much of the Government’s view on the importance of the role of work and families. Indeed, we wish to ensure that the quality of the legislation before us is the best that we can manage. That is why we shall be asking questions to probe the Government’s intentions and aims. Without such scrutiny, we would be failing in our duty. I am sure that Labour Members will wish to participate in that process.
Therefore, on this occasion—and I do not often get the chance to say this—I welcome the fact no timetable instruments, or knives as they are colloquially known, have been put into this motion. One simple reason that Opposition Members raise concerns about such timetables is that they interfere with the quality of the scrutiny process. It means that we sometimes have to guess which amendment we need to focus on to deal with the big issues, and often forces us to leave out smaller issues. Those may be particularly important to our constituents, but we nevertheless have no time for them because we are racing to catch up with those amendments which are perhaps at the back end of a timetable, or knife. Thus it is especially welcome that the motion before us today does not include such knives. I hope that means we shall be able to tease out the details here. We certainly look forward to a thorough and positive exchange.