Part of Orders of the Day — Housing (Scotland) Bill. – in the House of Commons am ar 2 Gorffennaf 1935.
Duchess of ATHOLL:
I was trying to show why the Amendment should be widened. The Under-Secretary also based his argument on the dictum that a house which had been declared to be unfit for human habitation had no value but with all respect I dispute that view. At a meeting of representatives of the small burghs in my Constituency to discuss this Bill I asked them if there were any houses in their burghs which had been declared unfit for human habitation but were being used for any other purpose. I received answers of "Yes" from all round the table and I was told that there were such houses being used as garages, stores and so forth.
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.
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.
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
