Flood and Water Management Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:15 pm on 19 January 2010.
Anne McIntosh
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I should be interested to know from which moneys the Minister may direct the Environment Agency to make the specified payments to the regional flood and coastal committee chairmen, or former chairmen. I understand that the agency will be authorised to pay allowances, so things are looking up for the hon. Member for Selby. He obviously knew something that we did not know when he declared his interest.
The Minister has the power to determine the amounts, or maximum amounts, that may be paid under the Clause. Will he elaborate on whether that money is paid from his largesse or the Environment Agency’s current budget? Will he also elaborate on the nature of the allowances? I hope that he will forgive me for not having had a chance to discover that from the impact assessment. It would be helpful to have some guidance from him.
Anne McIntosh
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Chairmen, because men embrace women.
Huw Irranca-Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Marine and Natural Environment)
There we are. Such payments may be made in relation to remuneration, allowances, pensions and compensation. To give an idea of where we are, we must allow committee chairs to be paid so that committee members can receive allowances to cover their costs. Hon. Members will appreciate that that is reasonable, and it continues the current arrangements under schedule 5 to the Environment Act 1995 in relation to the regional flood defence committees. I shall relate my comments to what currently happens.
The chair’s remuneration is set by the Senior Salaries Review Body, which also sets annual increases. The increase for this financial year, for example, was set at 1.5 per cent., and chairs currently receive £17,503 precisely, except in Northumbria where the figure is set at £14,002 precisely. I do not know the reason for the difference, but I suspect that it relates to the number of days per month that are committed. The Environment Agency also sets allowances for travel and meals, financial loss allowances for other members, and financial loss allowances related to the length of the meeting.
I do not have to hand the information about where the funding will come from. Currently, it comes from the established funds that are available to the Environment Agency, but I will write to the hon. Lady clarifying where it will come from.
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.
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.
Laurence Robertson
Shadow Minister (Northern Ireland)