Queen's recommendation signified .

I beg to move,

That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Driving Instruction (Suspension and Exemption Powers) Bill, it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of any expenditure incurred by the Secretary of State in consequence of the Act.

That also covers any increase attributable to the Act in the sums payable under any other Act out of money so provided.

On Second Reading, it was the will of the House that the Bill—introduced by Willie Rennie—be discussed in Committee. It will introduce a power for the suspension of driving instructors who pose a threat to members of the public.

The Bill will have expenditure implications for the public purse, which will relate to compensation payable to driving instructors who have been suspended but whose permission to give paid driving instruction is not subsequently revoked, or whose permission is reinstated on appeal. The level of expenditure is unlikely to be significant, as it is expected that very few cases will result in the awarding of compensation. However, approval for a money resolution is needed before the Committee can debate the issue fully. The hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife has previously explained to the House that he has a particular interest in the issue as a consequence of concerns raised by one of his constituents.

The overwhelming majority of driving instructors, having satisfied the registrar that they are "fit and proper" persons, remain so throughout their careers. Unfortunately, a small number do not. Hon. Members will be rightly anxious for adequate safeguards to cover circumstances in which persons are prevented from following their profession. To that end, I wish to reassure the House that the Bill provides for a satisfactory statutory compensation scheme for the reimbursement of losses suffered by a suspended instructor whose suspension is subsequently lifted, and who is permitted to resume giving paid instruction. That is why we need the money resolution, and on that basis I commend it to the House.

We are experiencing a rare moment of genuine cross-party consensus. I will therefore keep my comments brief, not least because I do not wish to delay those who are waiting to hear the Adjournment debate, which will be opened by my hon. Friend Nadine Dorries.

I commend Willie Rennie for his tenacity. I also commend his constituent Lesley Anne Steele, who brought the issue to his attention and who played a pivotal role in bringing the Bill to this stage. I thank the Under-Secretary and his Department for bringing the Department's resources into play in sorting out the complex legalities and financial instruments that we need to discuss, particularly as the measure offers no real political advantage to the Labour party. In fact, if anything the advantage would be with the Liberal Democrats in a marginal seat. I also thank my colleagues on the Tory Back Benches, and some on the Labour Benches, who, as the perennial awkward squad, can often be relied on to block any private Member's legislation, for seeing that this is what is termed a no-brainer as it involves realistic and sensible measures, and who therefore made sure we got to this stage today. We will be able to address the details in Committee on Wednesday, but the Bill closes an important loophole and means that a balance can be struck between the rights of approved driving instructors convicted of an offence and whether they can be considered a "fit and proper" person to be alone with a young learner, and our obligation to protect these young people.

Order. I think that I am obliged to say to the hon. Gentleman and the House in general that we are discussing the money resolution and we must not get into a debate about the substance of the Bill itself.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

The provision for compensation for those who are suspended and then subsequently cleared will probably be in the region of £60,000 per annum, given that maybe five or six people a year will be in such a situation. Consideration has been given to others such as school bus drivers, where the balance to be struck must be different. A person who has even just been arrested for an offence is to be immediately suspended. While I can see why the measure under discussion might have been taken a step further, given that we are not talking about vulnerable children or vulnerable adults with problems such as those we often encounter in care homes I think we have got the balance right. In cases where people are arrested as a result of investigations such as Operation Orr, the forensic examination of computers often takes many months, and in such cases the appeal would be much more expensive. I am very pleased that we have managed to reach this stage, and I look forward to debating the matter further in Committee on Wednesday.

I am grateful to the Minister for bringing the money resolution before the House this evening. I shall keep my remarks brief, as it is 10.20 pm already, which is well past my bedtime. This issue arose from the case of Lesley Anne Steele in my constituency. She was sexually assaulted by a driving instructor, but the very next day after he was convicted he was out teaching another young girl to drive in the very same community. She came to me and we worked together to try to find out how this could possibly have happened. We discovered that there was a loophole in the law that allowed driving instructors to continue to operate for a further 45 days.

If we gain the power to suspend, this money resolution funds a compensation package so that on the rare occasion we get things wrong, compensation will be available. That is not unreasonable, as some people will lose in terms of both reputation and finance, as this might be their only source of earnings. We must have a compensation scheme to support those people who are wrongly suspended or who successfully appeal against their suspension. I am grateful to the Minister for bringing this measure before the House. The Bill is important, and I hope we can discuss its measures in more detail in Committee on Wednesday.

Question put and agreed to.