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Select Committee, Governance of the House

MPs debated Select Committee on Governance of the House

10 September 2014

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On Wednesday 10 September MPs took part in a debate in the House of Commons Chamber on a motion relating to a Select Committee on the Governance of the House. This debate was scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee.

The Members in charge for this debate were Jesse Norman, Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, and Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex.

Watch the debate and read the transcript

The debate was opened by Jesse Norman. Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Angela Eagle, responded on behalf of the Opposition. Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Tom Brake, responded on behalf of the Government.

The representation for this debate was received at the Committee’s public meeting on 2 September.

Motion for debate

MPs debated the following motion:

"That this House welcomes the Speaker’s announcement on 1 September of a pause in the process of appointment of a new Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, to give time for further consideration; and accordingly determines that:

(a) there shall be a select committee, called the House of Commons Governance Committee, to consider the governance of the House of Commons, including the future allocation of the responsibilities for House services currently exercised by the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive;

(b) the Committee report to the House by 12 January 2015;

(c) the Committee shall have the powers given to select committees related to government departments under paragraph 4(a) and 4(b) of Standing Order No. 152;

(d) Mr Jack Straw be the Chair of the Committee;

(e) the Committee shall consist of seven other backbench members, to be elected by parties in the proportion of three Conservative, two Labour and one Liberal Democrat, together with one representative of the other parties represented in the House; the parties shall forward their nominations to the Chair of the Committee of Selection by 14 October and any motion made in the House on behalf of the Committee of Selection by the Chair or another member of the Committee shall be treated as having been made in pursuance of Standing Order No. 121(2) for the purposes of Standing Order No. 15(1)(c)."

Financial consequences memorandum

Standing Order No. 22C requires the House of Commons Accounting Officer to produce a financial memorandum:

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