– in a Public Bill Committee at on 5 July 2005.
Nicholas Winterton
Conservative, Macclesfield
10:30,
5 July 2005
I welcome all Members to the Committee. Before we begin, I have one or two domestic announcements to make. I remind the Committee that there is a Ways and Means resolution, copies of which are available in the Room. I should also remind Committee members that, as a general rule, adequate notice should be given of amendments. My co-Chairman and I do not intend to call starred amendments, so please table them early.
Would all Members also ensure that mobile telephones—the blight of modern society—pagers, Blackberries, blueberries and whatever else people have by way of electronic gadgets are turned off or set to silent during Committee sittings? Finally, if the mood of last night's Programming Sub-Committee is anything to go by, this will be an agreeable and constructive Standing Committee that scrutinises this important Bill very carefully.
The first matter is the programme motion, debate on which may continue for half an hour.
Karen Buck
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Civil Aviation Bill the Standing Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 10.30 am on Tuesday 5th July) meet—
(a) at 4.00 pm on Tuesday 5th July; and
(b) at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm on Thursday 7th July;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely, Clauses 1 to 12, the Schedule, Clause 13, new Clauses and new Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill;
(3) proceedings on the Bill shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 4.00 pm on Thursday 7th July.
Sir Nicholas, I hope that raspberries will also not be welcome in the Committee. May I say how pleased I am to serve in Committee for the first time in my present capacity and to do so under your wise and benevolent but firm chairmanship? I recall serving under you on the Greater London Authority Bill, which you will remember lasted for what seemed like several years. Whenever proceedings were interrupted by the Division bell and the Minister was on their feet, you would welcome us back after the Division with the words, ''The Minister was just drawing to a conclusion'' even if they had just risen to respond to a debate. I hope to follow that line, and always to be drawing to a conclusion.
Several Committee members participated on Second Reading and made important points, many from a Constituency interest, and I hope that we will have the opportunity to consider the Bill in a more detailed and systematic way. The hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) was kind enough to describe the Bill as an ''aviation paella'', which was an unattractive concept, but I understood his meaning. It is a collection of measures, with the giant prawns being the regulation of noise and emissions at aerodromes, the vires of public airport companies, the route licensing appeal mechanism, aviation health and the protection of consumers. I am not sure what takes the role of the spicy sausage, but I am advised by the sommeliers that it should not be accompanied by a bottle of Nightcap.
The Programming Sub-Committee proposes four sittings, which we believe represents adequate time to complete our deliberations. The hon. Members present on Second Reading will know that everyone who wanted to contribute to that debate was able to do so with no time limits. Indeed, we finished with a little time to spare. I hope that we will have an opportunity to consider all the amendments as thoroughly as the Committee would want. The proposed order is a simple way through the Bill's provisions, and I hope that it, too, finds favour with the Committee.
Julian Brazier
Shadow Minister (Transport)
I, too, welcome the opportunity to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Nicholas. I have been privileged to speak several times in Westminster Hall debates that you have chaired, and I can match the Minister's anecdote. I remember one particularly high-quality debate in which we got to the bottom of the issue with almost no audience; Westminster Hall was almost empty, with only one person in the public gallery. At the end, you told us what a good debate it had been, which was important to those of us who had worked hard and felt that we might have been wasting our time.
There is huge public interest in this Bill, which covers issues ranging from climate change to the quality of life of ordinary people. The Opposition welcome the fact that there are no knives in the motion, as it gives us the freedom to range as we see fit over the issues. That is particularly important on this Bill because our main complaint is that it is a bit of a mouse and does not do very much. Most of the more lively debates will be on the new clauses.
I see, Sir Nicholas, that you have and your advisers have done a wonderful job on selecting the order of the amendments. With the possible exception of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, I cannot remember serving on a Bill where the arrangements of the amendments could have been quite as conceptually difficult, because so many of them overlap in so many different and complicated ways. I will try hard not to test your patience by dealing with amendments that are further down the list, but there is so much overlap between them that it may prove impossible not to stray from time to time.
Much of the debate will inevitably be on the new clauses, which is why it is particularly good to have no knives on the Bill. A whole variety of areas seem to be missing from the Bill; it confers many powers, but there are few duties to get anything done. It has almost no checks and balances. We will shortly debate new clauses that cover many of those matters. There are a number of more specialist areas, ranging from safety to the Air Travel Trust. This looks like being a most interesting Committee and I look forward to taking part in debates.
Tom Brake
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (International Development)
May I join other Members in welcoming you to the Chair, Sir Nicholas? I always enjoy serving under your chairmanship, whether here in Standing Committee, as I have done on a number of occasions, or in Westminster Hall where you have chaired a large number of debates in which I have participated. I should also like to join the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) in congratulating you and, I guess, the Government, on selecting an order of amendments that demonstrates a clarity that is unusual in a standing Committee.
The progress of the Bill will be intelligible both to members of the Committee and members of the public who are following our proceedings. The process of starting at Clause 1 and going on to the new clauses is something that I should like other Standing Committees to imitate. My one regret is that Amendment No. 33 relating to the Air Travel Trust fund has not been selected. I may seek to refer to it, but in a way that is acceptable and relevant to other clauses higher on the selection list. Without further ado, I look forward to our first debate.
Question put and agreed to.
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.
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
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.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
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.
