– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 December 1964.
Mr Douglas Houghton
, Sowerby
12:00,
10 December 1964
I beg to move, in page 3, line 8, at the end to insert:
(2) Subsection (2) of section 5 of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 (reprinting of Schedule 1 as from time to time amended) shall apply to provisions of that Act other than Schedule 1 as it applies to that Schedule.
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster
, Cities of London and Westminster
We can also discuss Amendment No. 12, in page 3, line 8, at end insert.
(3) In section 13(1) of the said Act, in the definition of "Minister of State", the words "appointed at a salary" shall be omitted, and at the end there shall be added the words "or any office in respect of which a salary is payable out of moneys provided by Parliament under section 2 of the Ministerial Salaries Act 1946".
Mr Douglas Houghton
, Sowerby
I am sure that I shall carry the Committee with me on this Amendment. It is what is called the printing Clause of the 1957 Act. Section 5 of that Act provides for the amendment of the First Schedule of it. The First Schedule sets out the offices which are held to be offices disqualifying persons from membership of the House of Commons. Under Section 5 of the 1957 Act it was thought convenient that the First Schedule to it should be kept up to date and that additions to it or deletions from it should be incorporated in a revised version so that any citizen, any candidate for Parliament or any Member of Parliament could see by looking at the Schedule whether he occupied, or might be offered, a post which would disqualify him from membership of the House of Commons.
The provision for keeping Schedule 1 up to date did not, however, extend to Schedule 2. It seems to us now to be convenient for Schedule 2 to the 1957 Act to be kept up-to-date as revised in accordance with the Bill which is now before us, and that when the 1957 Act is reprinted both Schedules should be up-to-date. That will be for general convenience. I hope, further, that the Committee will agree that in reprinting the 1957 Act we should make a good job of it, do it all and not confine it to Schedule 1 as provided for in Section 5 of the 1957 Act.
Further Amendment made: In page 3, line 8, at end insert:
(3) In section 13(1) of the said Act, in the definition of "Minister of State", the words "appointed at a salary" shall be omitted, and at the end there shall be added the words "or any office in respect of which a salary is payable out of moneys provided by Parliament under section 2 of the Ministerial Salaries Act 1946".—[Mr. Houghton.]
Mr Douglas Houghton
, Sowerby
I beg to move, in page 3, line 9, to leave out "2" and to insert "3".
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.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
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 Member of Parliament (MP) is elected by a particular area or constituency in Britain to represent them in the House of Commons. MPs divide their time between their constituency and the Houses of Parliament in London. Once elected it is an MP's job to represent all the people in his or her constituency. An MP can ask Government Ministers questions, speak about issues in the House of Commons and consider and propose new laws.
