[Miss Anne Begg in the Chair]

Before I call the Minister to move the programme motion, let me say that it is likely to get quite hot, so it will be acceptable for hon. Gentlemen to remove their jackets.

I beg to move,

That—

(1)during proceedings on the Transport (Wales) Bill the Standing Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday 28th June) meet at 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday 28th June;

(2)the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely, Clauses 1 to 3, the Schedule, Clauses 4 to 17, new Clauses, new Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill;

(3)the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 28th June.

On behalf of the Committee, I extend a warm welcome to you, Miss Begg, as you assume your responsibilities at the commencement of our proceedings. We welcome your expertise and we have no doubt that you will ensure that our deliberations are thorough and in order.

I also extend a warm welcome to the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin), who will lead for the Opposition, and to the members of his team. In addition, I welcome the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit öpik), who represents the Liberal Democrats, and the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams), who represents Plaid Cymru. I extend a special welcome to new Members of Parliament serving on the Committee. I hope that they will enjoy the experience and learn from it.

There is a great deal of knowledge and experience on the Committee. That is certainly true of experienced Labour Members, and I look forward with interest to the many points that they will raise. In particular, I welcome the hon. Member for Clwyd, South (Mr. Jones) who chaired the Select Committee on Welsh Affairs when it conducted the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill.

The measures in the Bill have been developed over a number of years and have received widespread support from a broad range of stakeholders. The Bill has been subject to detailed pre-legislative scrutiny by the Welsh Affairs Committee and the Economic Development and Transport Committee of the National Assembly for Wales. Many people and organisations have responded to the public consultation, and significant changes have been made as a result of that scrutiny. The Second Reading debate confirmed the benefit of that work.

Many provisions in the Bill are of interest, and we may disagree on some of the points that we debate, but I am confident that debate will be constructive and that the Committee will co-operate to ensure that we cover all the necessary points in the time allowed.

Hon. Members may find it helpful to know that Andrew Davies, the Assembly Minister for Economic Development and Transport, has written to me outlining how the Assembly envisages utilising the powers in the Bill in relation to joint transport authorities. I have placed a copy of that letter in the Library and circulated copies to all members of the Committee. Copies are also available on the Table in the Room.

May I say again how pleased I am to serve under your chairmanship, Miss Begg? I look forward to your guiding our proceedings to a successful conclusion as early as possible.

I welcome you to the Chair, Miss Begg. For almost eight years, you and I have been bringing the BBC to account as members of the all-party group on the BBC, although the Government have obviously recognised your contribution more than mine. It will be a pleasure to serve under you on this Committee and, I hope, on others in future.

The Liberal Democrats are comfortable with the programme motion. The Bill raises matters for debate, but the issue of whether we agree with it as a whole is not fundamentally contentious. Two sittings in one day should be satisfactory. I am sure that no one in the Room has any desire to filibuster or to cause unnecessary delay and that we shall get through matters quickly.

I very much look forward to hearing the rationale behind the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Leominster, and I am sure that we shall have a healthy debate about them. Notwithstanding that, I hope, as does the Minister, that we will not use time unnecessarily, since time’s arrow cannot be stopped. The sooner we complete our work on the Bill, the sooner we will be able to deal with other matters.

I should mention one last thing. If matters arise in Committee that persuade the Government of the need for change, I am sure that the Minister will be noble enough to affirm that he will use Report to make the necessary changes. On that basis, I support the programme motion.

Question put and agreed to.

I remind the Committee that there is a money resolution in connection with the Bill; copies are available in the Room. I also have the usual reminder about amendments, but as we will complete our proceedings today it is slightly academic.