– in the House of Commons at 9:41 pm on 1 March 1993.
Motion made, and Question proposed,That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Freedom and Responsibility of the Press Bill it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of—
Peter Bottomley
, Eltham
10:01,
1 March 1993
May we take it that the motions on the Order Paper are formal motions and that there is no suggestion that the Government support the Bills attached to them?
Miss Betty Boothroyd
Speaker of the House of Commons
At the moment we are dealing with the motion relating to the Freedom and Responsibility of the Press Bill.
Mr Peter Brooke
Secretary of State for National Heritage
10:02,
1 March 1993
My hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) knows that the money resolution must be adopted by the House before a Standing Committee can consider those provisions of the Freedom and Responsibility of the Press Bill that give rise to public expenditure. The Government are happy to move the necessary resolution to enable the Committee to consider the Bill. As my hon. Friend knows, it is of no broader significance than that.
Peter Bottomley
, Eltham
On that basis, I shall not oppose the money resolution. However, I hope that the Bill makes no further progress after its Committee stage.
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.
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.
The order paper is issued daily and lists the business which will be dealt with during that day's sitting of the House of Commons.
It provides MPs with details of what will be happening in the House throughout the day.
It also gives details of when and where the standing committees and select committees of the Commons will be meeting.
Written questions tabled to ministers by MPs on the previous day are listed at the back of the order paper.
The order paper forms one section of the daily vote bundle and is issued by the Vote Office
A proposal for new legislation that is debated by Parliament.
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.
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House of Commons (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House of Commons. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments. There are no standing committees in the House of Lords.
