[Ian Paisley in the Chair]

Before we begin, I have a few announcements. Please ensure your mobile devices are on silent. I allow you to bring in tea and coffee. I am not as strict as some other Chairs. You are welcome to keep refreshed during the proceedings. I call the Minister to move the programme motion in her name.

I beg to move,

That—

(1) the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 11.30am on Thursday 18 June) meet—

(a) at 2.00pm on Thursday 18 June;

(b) at 9.25am and 2.00pm on Tuesday 23 June;

(c) at 11.30am and 2.00pm on Thursday 25 June;

(d) at 9.25am and 2.00pm on Tuesday 30 June;

(e) at 11.30am and 2.00pm on Thursday 2 July;

(2) the Committee shall hear oral evidence in accordance with the following Table:

TABLE

Date

Time

Witness

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 12.20pm

Boundary Commission for England

Boundary Commission for Scotland

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 12.40pm

Boundary Commission for Wales

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 1pm

Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 2.30pm

The Conservative Party

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 3pm

The Labour Party

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 3.30pm

The Liberal Democrats

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 4pm

The Scottish National Party

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 4.30pm

Plaid Cymru

Thursday 18 June

Until no later than 5pm

Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Wales Governance Centre, Cardiff University

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 9.50 am

Dr Alan Renwick, The Constitution Unit, University College London

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 10.10 am

The Green Party

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 10.40 am

Professor Roger Awan-Scully, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 11.25 am

Professor Iain McLean, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford Professor Sir John Curtice, Department of Politics, University of Strathclyde

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 2.30 pm

The Association of Electoral Administrators

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 3pm

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 3.30 pm

The Electoral Reform Society

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 3.50 pm

The Democratic Unionist Party

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 4.10 pm

Dr Jac Larner, Wales Governance Centre, Cardiff University

Tuesday 23 June

Until no later than 5 pm

Professor Charles Pattie, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield Dr David Rossiter

(3) proceedings on consideration of the Bill in Committee shall be taken in the following order: Clauses 1 to 11, the Schedule, Clause 12, New Clauses, New Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill;

(4) the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 5.00pm on Thursday 2 July. Chloe Smith has given notice of her intention to move a motion in the terms of the Resolution of the Programming Sub-Committee [Standing Order No. 83C].

Thank you for your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. We all look forward to serving with you. I welcome the shadow Minister and all members of the Committee. I am grateful to everybody for their time and to the witnesses.

It is important that we have a motion here that provides for four oral evidence sessions and six sessions of line-by-line scrutiny, with the option, should we need it, for afternoon sessions to run longer, but I am sure none of us wants any midnight finishes, so we will stick to the work in hand. This gives a good amount of time for the Bill to be properly scrutinised. I really welcome the fact that we have a wide range of witnesses.

I draw the Committee’s attention to the letter that everybody ought to have received from me already, outlining a Government amendment we are making with respect to the data to be used by reviews, which I hope is welcome in the light of the impact of coronavirus.

The Minister is referring to a letter of 15 June. I assume everyone has received that.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That, subject to the discretion of the Chair, any written evidence received by the Committee shall be reported to the House for publication.—(Chloe Smith.)

Copies of written evidence that the Committee receives will be made available in the Committee room. I believe they are at the back of the room.

Resolved,

That, at this and any subsequent meeting at which oral evidence is to be heard, the Committee shall sit in private until the witnesses are admitted.—(Chloe Smith.)

The Committee deliberated in private.