Backbench debates announced for 11, 13, 24 February

The Committee has determined that the following business will take place in backbench time:

Thursday 13 February in the Chamber

• Debate on a motion relating to the Normington Report on reform of the Police Federation (Member in charge: Mr David Davis) 
• General debate on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer report on cancer priorities in the NHS  (Member in charge: Mr John Baron) Representation for debate received at Backbench Business Committee meeting on 4 February.

Monday 24 February in Westminster Hall

• General debate on an e-petition relating to holiday companies charging extra in school holidays (Member in charge: John Hemming)

The Committee has used its powers to convene a sitting in Westminster Hall on a Monday afternoon from 4.30 – 7.30pm on the subject of an e-petition.

Appointment of a debate in Westminster Hall by the Chairman of Ways and Means following a recommendation by the Backbench Business Committee

• Tuesday 11 February at 9.30am: VAT and the tourism sector (Member in charge: Ms Margaret Ritchie)

Margaret Ritchie, Jim Shannon, Caroline Lucas made representations for this debate received at the Backbench Business Committee meeting on 4 February.

Bids for debate received at 4 February meeting

At its public meeting on Tuesday 4 February the Committee heard, in addition to the bids from Mr John Baron and Margaret Ritchie, representations from the following:

• George Freeman, Dr Julian Huppert, Dr Phillip Lee, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown for a debate on ownership of NHS patient data and patient rights
• Anne Main, Caroline Lucas, Angela Smith, Barry Sheerman for a debate on the badger cull.
• Mr Michael Meacher and Dr Julian Huppert for a debate on inequality.

Backbench Business Committee

The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays at 3pm to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject, including those raised in e-petitions or national campaigns.

An MP must make a representation before the Committee for an e-petition or petition to be debated; e-petitions exceeding the Government's 100,000 signature threshold are not automatically allocated backbench time.

The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee's meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.

Further Information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• How the Backbench Business Committee works