Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 6:30 pm on 4 November 2009.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury
6:30,
4 November 2009
I beg to move Amendment 41, page 21, line 25, leave out 'must' and insert
'and the Comptroller and Auditor General must jointly'.
Clause 45 sets out the arrangements for the NAO's expenditure and the approval of its estimates. Government amendment 41 is a minor amendment, which provides for the CAG to prepare the NAO estimates jointly with the NAO. The Bill already provides that the estimate, once prepared, will be presented to the Public Accounts Commission jointly by the CAG and the chair of the NAO.
Amendment 41 agreed to.
Clause 45, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 46 to 49 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 8 agreed to.
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.
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.
