Part of Gambling Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:30 am on 11 November 2004.
Malcolm Moss
Shadow Minister, Home Affairs
9:30,
11 November 2004
In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins), who is on his way, hotfoot, I would like to begin. I am sure from examining Hansard that I had finished speaking to my amendments Nos. 82, 83, 84 and 85. I shall now speak to Amendment No. 41, which would remove from the Clause the words ''despite subsection (3)(d)''. The only reference to subsection (3) in the clause is the one to which I am referring and there is no paragraph (d). I cannot see what that wording refers to in the Bill; I suspect that it is from the draft Bill and has not been cut out. It would be helpful if the Minister illuminated the Committee as to what it refers to. We have not got very far—we are only on clause 5—and we have already found some incredible errors.
My hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath has now arrived so I shall leave him to move amendment. No 40.
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.
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 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.
