– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Tachwedd 1947.
Where, under any Act of Parliament, a statutory instrument is required to be laid before Parliament, or before this House, the delivery of a copy of such instrument to the Votes and Proceedings Office on any day during the existence of a Parliament shall be deemed to be for all purposes the laying of it before the House.
When any communication has been received by Mr. Speaker, drawing attention to the fact that copies of any statutory instruments have yet to be laid before Parliament, and explaining why such copies have not been so laid before the instrument came into operation, Mr. Speaker shall thereupon lay such communication upon the Table of the House.—[Mr. H. Morrison.]
Sir John Mellor
, Sutton Coldfield
Could we have an explanation why the Votes and Proceedings Office is being substituted for the Librarian of the House of Commons as the depository of copies of Statutory Instruments?
Sir Frank Soskice
, Birkenhead East
The first Amendment is simply to bring into line with what we propose with regard to Statutory Instruments the present practice with regard to presenting Command Papers as laid down by Standing Order No. 93. As the hon. Gentleman will have noticed, the object of this new schedule is twofold: first, to provide a channel of communication between the Speaker and the scrutiny committee that we promised to provide, and secondly, to enable Statutory Instruments to be laid when the House is not sitting. The object of the Amendment to Standing Order No. 93 is to bring it into line with that. Both will be presented to the Votes and Proceedings Office in order that there shall be uniformity in the procedure.
Sir Herbert Butcher
, Holland with Boston
While I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for his explanation, can he give us an assurance that for the convenience of Members duplicate copies will be made available in the library?
Sir Frank Soskice
, Birkenhead East
We will consider what the hon. Gentleman says and bear in mind what he suggests.
Public Business is the main business of the day that follows questions, urgent questions and statements.
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 Speaker is an MP who has been elected to act as Chairman during debates in the House of Commons. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the rules laid down by the House for the carrying out of its business are observed. It is the Speaker who calls MPs to speak, and maintains order in the House. He or she acts as the House's representative in its relations with outside bodies and the other elements of Parliament such as the Lords and the Monarch. The Speaker is also responsible for protecting the interests of minorities in the House. He or she must ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their view without undue obstruction. It is also the Speaker who reprimands, on behalf of the House, an MP brought to the Bar of the House. In the case of disobedience the Speaker can 'name' an MP which results in their suspension from the House for a period. The Speaker must be impartial in all matters. He or she is elected by MPs in the House of Commons but then ceases to be involved in party politics. All sides in the House rely on the Speaker's disinterest. Even after retirement a former Speaker will not take part in political issues. Taking on the office means losing close contact with old colleagues and keeping apart from all groups and interests, even avoiding using the House of Commons dining rooms or bars. The Speaker continues as a Member of Parliament dealing with constituent's letters and problems. By tradition other candidates from the major parties do not contest the Speaker's seat at a General Election. The Speakership dates back to 1377 when Sir Thomas Hungerford was appointed to the role. The title Speaker comes from the fact that the Speaker was the official spokesman of the House of Commons to the Monarch. In the early years of the office, several Speakers suffered violent deaths when they presented unwelcome news to the King. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M2 on the UK Parliament website.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
Command papers, printed by command of the Monarch, are documents which the government wants to publish and present to Parliament.
Major policy statements, Green Papers or White Papers, treaties, annual reports and ad hoc reports of various departments, bodies and Royal Commissions are printed as command papers.
