Backbench debates announced for 3 and 8 July
2 July 2014
Following its public meeting on 1 July, the Backbench Business Committee has scheduled Backbench debates for Thursday 3 and Tuesday 8 July.
- Watch Parliament TV: Meeting of the Backbench Business Committee: 1 July 2014
- Read transcript of representations made on Tuesday 1 July 2014
The Committee has determined that the following business will take place in backbench time:
Thursday 3 July in the Chamber
- Select Committee Statement on the publication of the Second Report from the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, on Food security, by Miss Anne McIntosh, Chair of EFRA Committee
- Select Committee Statement on the publication of the Second Report from the Foreign Affairs Committee, on Gibraltar–Time to get off the fence, by Sir Richard Ottaway, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee
- General debate on protecting children in conflict (Member in charge: Fiona O’Donnell) – previously announced; formally confirmed at 1 July meeting
- General debate on social mobility and the Child Poverty Strategy (Members in charge: Hazel Blears, Mr Graham Stuart) - previously announced; formally confirmed at 1 July meeting
Tuesday 8 July in Westminster Hall
The Committee has recommended the following business to the Chairman of Ways and Means:
- 9.30am: General debate on Organ transplants (Member in charge: Jim Shannon) (90 minutes)
Bids for debate received – 1 July meeting
At its public meeting on Tuesday 1 July, the Committee heard, in addition to the bid from Jim Shannon, representations from the following:
- Robert Halfon, Steve Rotheram, Jim Shannon, Jim Cunningham and Stewart Jackson for a debate on hospital car parking charges
- Chloe Smith, Ian Swales and Brooks Newmark for a debate on youth employment
- Anne Main, Stephen Pound, Dominic Raab and John Redwood for a debate on stamp duty and the UK housing market
- John Denham and Mike Thornton for a debate on the position of Hazaras in Pakistan and Afghanistan
- Fiona Bruce, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Robert Flello and Mary Glindon for a debate on a Mitochondrial replacement techniques and public safety
- Katy Clark and Mike Weir for a debate on the universal postal service obligation
- Gordin Birtwistle, Nigel Evans and Robert Flello for a debate on the provision of suitable education for children with autism.
The meeting on 1 July was the Backbench Business Committee’s first meeting of the 2014/15 session, the Members having been appointed by the House of Commons on Monday 30 June.
Backbench Business Committee meetings
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.