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FGM, e-petition, army, women, economy

Debates on 6, 10 March 2014

26 February 2014

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Following its public meeting on 25 February, the Backbench Business Committee has scheduled backbench debates for Thursday 6 March, Monday 10 March.

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

Thursday 6 March in the Chamber

  • Select Committee Statement on the publication of the Ninth Report from the Defence Committee, on Future Army 2020, HC 576 (Statement: Mr James Arbuthnot, Chair of Defence Committee
  • Debate on a motion relating to the security situation of women in Afghanistan (Members in charge: Sir Robert Smith, Sir Malcolm Bruce, Fiona O’Donnell)
  • General debate on Welsh affairs (Members in charge: Albert Owen, Elfyn Llywd, Roger Williams, Glyn Davies)

Thursday 6 March in Westminster Hall

  • General debate on the contribution of women to the economy (Members in charge: Mrs Caroline Spelman, Fiona Mactaggart)

Monday 10 March in Westminster Hall

  • General debate on an e-petition relating to stopping female genital mutilation in the UK (Members in charge: Keith Vaz, Pauline Latham)

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.

Representations for debate received – 25 February meeting

At its public meeting on Tuesday 11 February, the Committee heard, in addition to the representations from Keith Vaz and Pauline Latham, representations from the following:

  • Richard Drax, Edward Leigh, Philip Davies for a debate on fixed term parliaments

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