Business in Westminster Hall

Background

When the Modernisation Committee first proposed the establishment of the parallel Chamber in Westminster Hall, that Committee’s intention was that Westminster Hall should “offer fresh opportunities for backbench Members and enable the House to hold the Government to account on a wider range of issues”. The Modernisation Committee stated that it was not the purpose of Westminster Hall to enable the Government to expand its legislative programme, but envisaged Westminster Hall being used for novel kinds of business or new approaches to existing business, including second readings of non-controversial bills and ‘prayers’ against statutory instruments which might not otherwise be debated at all.

The current pattern of business in Westminster Hall is as follows:

• Mondays (4.30–7.30): Debates on e-petitions (when recommended by the Backbench Business Committee), considered on a motion “That this House has considered the e-petition relating to [subject of petition].”
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays (9.30–11.30 and 2.30–5.00): Backbench-initiated debates, two of one and a half hours and three of half an hour, considered on a Government motion for the adjournment of the sitting. Subjects for debate are chosen by a ballot run by the Speaker’s office, except (on an experimental basis) for one of the 90-minute debates each week which may be appointed by the Chairman of Ways and Means on the recommendation of the Backbench Business Committee.
• Thursdays (1.30–4.30): Debates either on a select committee report chosen by the Liaison Committee, or on a subject chosen by the Backbench Business Committee, considered on a Government motion for the adjournment of the sitting.

The Standing Orders also provide for oral answers to questions to be taken in Westminster Hall under the direction of the Chairman of Ways and Means, a procedure which was used on eight occasions between January 2003 and October 2004 for subjects including youth policy, urban renewal, healthy living and anti-social behaviour; but which has not been used since.

Points on which comments are invited

The Committee would welcome views on the following points:

• Is the current range of business taken in Westminster Hall appropriate?

• What other business might usefully be debated in Westminster Hall (for example, the second reading of a non-controversial Government bill, or prayers against statutory instruments, as suggested by the Modernisation Committee)?

• Is there scope for taking any Ministerial statements, or sessions of oral questions, in Westminster Hall, in addition to those which take place in the Chamber (such as the proposal we made in a recent report for occasional questioning of a Minister on a written Ministerial statement made in the previous week, or the “cross-cutting” question sessions which took place between 2003 and 2004)?

• Are the current Westminster Hall sitting times appropriate? If any new or different business is taken in Westminster Hall, should it replace the existing business or should other time be found for it (such as further Monday afternoon sittings)?

• Are the procedures for choosing what is debated in Westminster Hall appropriate? In particular, should the Backbench Business Committee retain its responsibility for choosing the subject for one of the 90-minute adjournment debates each week? If so, should it be extended to any of the other 90-minute debates?

• What scope is there for debate to take place on a substantive motion in Westminster Hall (as, for example, proposed by the Liaison Committee for debates on select committee reports)?

Submissions are invited by Friday 6 June.

Submissions can be sent to the Procedure Committee by following this link. Documents with the following extensions can be uploaded to the website: doc, docx, rtf, txt, ooxml and odt.

Documents may also be submitted in hard copy by posting them to:

Jim Camp,
Procedure Committee,
Journal Office,
House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA.