Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:30 pm ar 6 Rhagfyr 2001.
[Mr. John McWilliam in the Chair]
The Minister said that subsections (3) and (4) must be removed because they are inconsistent with subsections (1) and (2). If that is the case, I do not understand what subsections (3) and (4) were doing in the Bill in the first place. If they were already inconsistent with subsections (1) and (2), we are not simply tidying up, and nor are we moving the Scottish system back towards the English system. He seems to be saying that subsections (3) and (4) should never have been in the Bill in the first place. There are no equivalent subsections in clause 81, either. Either subsections (3) and (4) should never have been included, or there is a more expansive explanation than the one that the Minister has given. My hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield is right to think that there is more to the matter than mere inconsistency; we may be about to lose what my hon. Friend rightly calls a little piece of Scottishness. [Interruption.]
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.
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.
