Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
10:30 am
Joe Benton (Bootle, Labour)
Good morning. I wish first to ask everyone to ensure that mobile phones and pagers are either switched off or on silent mode.
Today is quite an historic occasion. For the first time, a Public Bill Committee will be hearing oral evidence on a Bill. So that everyone is clear about what is happening, I shall briefly explain what is proposed. The Committee will first be asked to consider the programme motion on which debate is limited to half an hour. We shall then proceed to debate a motion to report to the House the written evidence that the Committee receives and a motion to permit the Committee to deliberate in private in advance of the oral evidence sessions.
When the Committee has agreed its lines of questioning, the witnesses and members of the public will be invited back into the room and our oral evidence session will commence. If the Committee agrees to the programme motion, it will hear oral evidence this week before reverting to the more familiar proceedings of clause-by-clause scrutiny at subsequent sittings.
We come now to the programme motion, debate on which may continue for up to half an hour. I call the Minister.