Suggest a topic for debate
20 October 2010
The Backbench Business Committee has 35 days per year available to debate matters of interest to backbenchers (27 on the floor of the House, the rest in Westminster Hall). This time is allocated to the Backbench Business Committee by the Government on an ad hoc basis but has, until now, usually been restricted to Thursday.
We are expecting further backbench time to be made available by the Government’s business managers in November and December and we would like to hear from Members about a topic you would like to have debated.
The Backbench Business Committee will meet in public on Monday 25 October 2010 at 5pm in Committee Room 15 to hear representations from Members.
The Committee will determine the merit of a topic for debate on all or some of the following criteria:
-
Topicality
-
Why holding a debate is important
-
Breadth of interest: which other Members are likely to take part?
-
Why debate is unlikely to be secured through other routes
-
The amount of time required for debate (a full day's debate represents six hours, but this time can be broken into a series of shorter debates)
Members who wish to speak at this session are invited to contact the Committee by email at bbcom@parliament.uk . Members who made representations at the Committee’s previous session do not need to appear again, but it would be helpful if they could indicate by email whether they still wish their suggestion to be considered for debate. The transcript and webcast of the previous representation session can be found on the Committee’s website at:
The Committee is also happy to consider requests in writing from Members who are unable to attend the public session. For further information, email bbcom@parliament.uk or speak to a member of the Committee: Natascha Engel (Chair), Mr Peter Bone, Philip Davies, Jane Ellison, John Hemming and Mr Philip Hollobone.