– in a Public Bill Committee at on 25 April 2002.
Ian McCartney
Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions
9:30,
25 April 2002
On a point of order, Mr. Griffiths. I want to make a correction to the Hansard report of the fourth sitting of the Standing Committee on 18 April. I said the right words and Hansard took the right words down, but somewhere in the transposition there was a slight mix-up, which significantly changes what I said. I do not attach any blame to this. These things happen when millions of words are being transcribed every day.
In relation to Amendment No. 25, I gave some examples of the types and treatment of income that will be relevant to the calculation of pension credit. These do not appear to have been reflected correctly in the Official Report, so I thought that it would be useful if I set out our intentions in that important area. Specifically, column 127 indicates that war disablement and war widows' and widowers' pensions will be subject to a full disregard. That is incorrect—they will be subject to a £10 disregard. However, as stated, the whole of any war widow's supplementary pension, paid in addition to the normal pension to certain pre-1973 war widows, will be disregarded.
In addition, the Official Report indicated that matrimonial maintenance payments, working tax credit and employer's sick pay would be subject to a £10 disregard. They will not, and all income from those sources will be relevant to the pension credit calculation. I would like to apologise to the Committee for any confusion that those inaccuracies may have caused, but I hope that I have clarified the position.
Tim Boswell
Shadow Spokesperson (Business, Innovation and Skills), Shadow Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)
Further to that point of order, Mr. Griffiths. We readily accept the Minister's explanation of the confusion that has arisen, but I want to make two further points. First, if such confusion can arise, it is perhaps a function of the complexity of the matter, so one can imagine what might happen during a telephone conversation between a pensioner and the Pension Service.
Secondly—perhaps somewhat stretching the point of order—despite our political differences, hon. Members of all parties have some affection for the Minister, so we would like to wish him a very happy birthday. In the circumstances, I am sure that he would not want us to pull our punches or give him anything other than a hard time, but we will respect the spirit of his birthday and hope that he thoroughly enjoys it.
Mr Win Griffiths
Labour, Bridgend
I am sure that we can endorse that from the Chair.
Ian McCartney
Minister for pensions, Department for Work and Pensions
I just want to say how pleased I am with those remarks. As the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) knows, usually when I am in
Committee, it is either my birthday or I become a grandfather again. The Committee was delayed because of the Easter recess, when I did become a grandfather again, for the eighth time, and when the Committee was sitting the other day it was my granddaughter's sixth birthday, so it has been a happy week for me. I hope that the jollities of today will not be reflected in the answers that we are yet to hear, but I thank the Committee very much—the drinks are on the Chair.
Mr Win Griffiths
Labour, Bridgend
Thank you very much.New Clause 1 Advice
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.
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.
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.
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.
