Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 15 June 1933.
Mr James Reid
, Stirling and Falkirk District of Burghs
Perhaps the hon. Member for Torquay (Mr. C. Williams) is not aware that promoters at present pay pretty heavy fees, and I venture to think that some expenditure might be obtained out of those fees, and still leave a profit to the taxpayer. But I do sympathise with the hon. Member's point of view very much, because one does not want expenditure to be put on the taxpayer in eases where private interests are concerned. I also desire to welcome the statement made by the Solicitor-General, because I happen to know that in many cases not only is great embarrassment caused at present by the holding up of reports by the Government Departments—not of course the Secretary of State's Department—tout I understand that in certain cases reports do not even come before the Commissioners, or they arrive too late before them, and I trust that no report will be considered by the Secretary of State unless it has been before the Commissioners, or unless it deals solely with some alteration that has been made in the Bill by the Commissioners during the progress of the inquiry.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
