Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:12,
1 March 2017
We’ve reached voting time, and unless three Members wish for the bell to be rung, I will proceed directly to the first vote.
The first vote therefore is on the Plaid Cymru debate. I call for a vote on the motion, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 23, no abstentions, 25 against, and therefore the motion is not agreed.
Division number 237
NDM6245 - Plaid Cymru debate on the motion without amendment
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:13,
1 March 2017
I therefore call for a vote on Amendment 1, tabled in the name of Jane Hutt. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 25, no abstentions, 23 against, and therefore amendment 1 is agreed.
Division number 238
NDM6245 - Amendment 1
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:13,
1 March 2017
I now call for a vote on the motion as amended.
Motion NDM6245 as amended.
To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Notes Wales’s prominent contribution to the industrial revolution, to the creation of the National Health Service and its leading role in the development of secondary education provision.
Notes:
a) the unemployment rate in Wales has fallen to 4.4%, lower than the UK average;
b) recently-published OECD healthcare quality indicators show Wales is performing at a similar level or better than other countries in the UK on the majority of indicators;
c) the 2015/16 GCSE exam results for Wales show the main performance measure has increased each year since records began in 2006-07, while the attainment gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their fellow pupils is closing.
3. Recognises:
a) the essential role of education and skills as an important driver to improve Wales’s economic productivity levels;
b) the need for sustained improvement in Welsh waiting times for diagnosis and treatment; and
c) the potential of the blue and green economy in ensuring the future economic prosperity of Wales.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:13,
1 March 2017
Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 25, seven abstentions, 16 against, and therefore the motion as amended is agreed.
Division number 239
NDM6245 - Plaid Cymru debate on the motion as amended
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:14,
1 March 2017
The next vote is on the UKIP debate, and I call for a vote on the motion, tabled in the name of David Rowlands. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour six, no abstentions, 42 against, and therefore the motion is not agreed.
Division number 240
NDM6244 - United Kingdom Independence Party Debate on the motion without amendment
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:14,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 1, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 32, no abstentions, 16 against. Therefore, amendment 1 is agreed.
Division number 241
NDM6244 - Amendment 1
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:15,
1 March 2017
Amendment 2: if amendment 2 is agreed, amendment 4 will be deselected. I call for a vote on amendment 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. Ten in favour, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, amendment 2 is not agreed.
Division number 242
NDM6244 - Amendment 2
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:15,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 3, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. Seven in favour, six abstentions, 35 against. Therefore, amendment 3 is not agreed.
Division number 243
NDM6244 - Amendment 3
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:16,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 4, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 32, six abstentions, 10 against. Therefore, amendment 4 is agreed.
Division number 244
NDM6244 - Amendment 4
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:16,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 5, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 13, no abstentions, 35 against. Therefore, amendment 5 is not agreed.
Division number 245
NDM6244 - Amendment 5
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:16,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 6, tabled in the name of Jane Hutt. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 26, five abstentions, 17 against. Therefore, amendment 6 is agreed.
Division number 246
NDM6244 - Amendment 6
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:17,
1 March 2017
I call now for a vote on Amendment 7, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 12, one abstention, 35 against. Therefore, amendment 7 is not agreed.
Division number 247
NDM6244 - Amendment 7
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:17,
1 March 2017
I now call for a vote on the motion as amended.
Motion NDM6244 as amended:
To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Believes that the potential variability of work and earnings as a result of zero hour contracts can be a source of financial instability and stress and that unfair employment terms and conditions can have a negative impact on staff morale and productivity in a way that leads to a poorer quality service.
2. Notes that, for the majority of those employed on zero-hours contracts, this freedom is more illusory than real and, for those who need a minimum number of working hours per week to ensure financial security for their family, life on a zero-hours contract is one of almost permanent uncertainty;
3. Notes that, for those who have had their hours reduced or changed because of a perceived unwillingness to work the hours their employer requires or following the lodging of a workplace complaint, this uncertainty can be coupled with the anxiety that comes from exploitation.
4. Believes that working on zero hours contracts has the potential to:
a) create a life of stress;
b) impact negatively on the management of household budgets;
c) impinge on family commitments;
d) undermine employment rights and relations;
e) complicate access to tax credits and other benefits, the continued rise of which is a growing concern; and
f) lead to a poorer quality service.
5. Recognises the action the Welsh Government is taking to address the use of zero hours contracts in social care.
Welcomes the work of the Workforce Partnership Council in this area, which led to the publication of the Public Services Staff Commission’s principles and guidance on the appropriate use of non-guaranteed working hours arrangements in devolved public services in Wales.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:17,
1 March 2017
Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 33, no abstentions, 15 against. Therefore, the motion as amended is agreed.
Division number 248
NDM6244 - United Kingdom Independence Party Debate on the motion as amended
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.
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.
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
