Policing and Crime Bill
10:30 am
Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
When going through clauses in Committee, an important issue is the commitment to return to something on Report. It would help us if we knew that there was a commitment from all parties to come back to those matters on Report, and we always look to your guidance, Sir Nicholas, on whether we are debating the matter exhaustively or prematurely before other Members of the House have a chance to give their views. That matter was raised in business questions last Thursday. Generally speaking, there is sufficient time on Report to deal with anything that emerges from a Committee’s deliberations, but there are eight substantive parts to this Bill that we have to get through according to the timetable. That suggests that eight groups of amendments might emerge on Report, and I have never known eight groups to be addressed on Report in one day. To aid us in our deliberations according to this timetable, will the Minister indicate whether we are likely to get that and whether he will hold open the opportunity for us to have sufficient time on Report to debate, in particular, Government amendments in response to points we raise that are restricted by the timetabling motion? That would aid the Committee’s debates and considerations.