I beg to move,

(1) That a Select Committee be appointed to consider and make recommendations on the following matters:

(a) the appointment of members and chairmen of select committees,

(b) the appointment of the Chairman and Deputy Chairmen of Ways and Means;

(c) scheduling business in the House;

(d) enabling the public to initiate debates and proceedings in the House; and

(e) such other matters as appear to the Committee to be closely connected with the matters set out above, and to report on these matters by 13 November 2009;

(2) That the Committee also consider such other matters as may be referred to it from time to time;

(3) That the Committee consist of eighteen Members;

(4) That Mr Graham Allen, Mr Clive Betts, Mr Graham Brady, Mr David Clelland, Mr David Drew, Natascha Engel, Dr Evan Harris, David Howarth, Mr Michael Jack, Mr Greg Knight, Mr Elfyn Llwyd, Mr Chris Mullin, Dr Nick Palmer, Martin Salter, Dr Phyllis Starkey, Mr Andrew Tyrie, Dr Tony Wright and Sir George Young be members of the Committee;

(5) That Dr Tony Wright be Chairman of the Committee;

(6) That the Committee have power to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House; to adjourn from place to place, to report from time to time and to appoint specialist advisers;

(7) That this Order be a Standing Order of the House until the end of the present Parliament.

On 10 June, the Prime Minister announced in a statement to the House his support for the proposal by my hon. Friend Dr. Wright, the Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, to set up a new Committee to consider reform of the procedures of the House of Commons. The motion before the House today gives effect to that proposal by establishing a Committee to make recommendations on the appointment of members and Chairmen of Select Committees, the scheduling of business in the House, and enabling the public to initiate debates and proceedings of the House.

This Committee will be an important step at looking at how the reform of parliamentary procedure can achieve stronger accountability of the Government to Parliament through a larger role for Back-Bench Members and the wider public. There have been earlier versions of this motion which attracted amendments. Because we are keen to proceed on the basis of consensus for this Committee, we withdrew the motion in order to see if we could reach a compromise with the hon. Members who tabled those amendments. Most recently, we accepted the amendment tabled by Mr. Chope and this is now part of the motion before the House today, at paragraph (1)(b).