The week ahead in the House of Commons

House of Commons - Main Chamber

 

Monday 22 June 2015

2.30pm	Oral questions Work and Pensions, including Topical Questions
	Legislation Education and Adoption Bill - 2nd reading - Nicky Morgan
	Legislation Education and Adoption Bill - Programme motion - Nicky Morgan
	Legislation Education and Adoption Bill - Money resolution - Nicky Morgan
	Adjournment Stone theft - Jason McCartney

 

Tuesday 23 June 2015

11.30am	Oral questions Justice, including Topical Questions
	Legislation European Union (Finance) Bill - Committee stage - George Osborne - Committee of the whole House
	Legislation European Union (Finance) Bill - Report stage - George Osborne
	Legislation European Union (Finance) Bill - 3rd reading - George Osborne
	Motion High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Bill: Instruction (No.3)
	Adjournment Expansion of the Butec facility in the North West of Scotland - Ian Blackford

Wednesday 24 June 2015

11.30am	Oral questions Northern Ireland
12pm	Prime Minister's Question Time
	Opposition Day Debate (3rd allotted day) - Subject to be announced
	Adjournment Future of Public Health England at Porton Down - John Glen

Thursday 25 June 2015

9.30am	Oral questions Energy and Climate Change, including Topical Questions
	Business Statement Leader of the House
	Debate Reports into Investigatory Powers
	Adjournment National Gallery industrial dispute - John McDonnell

Friday 26 June 2015

 

No business has been announced for this day.

 

Westminster Hall Debates

 

Tuesday 23 June 2015

9.30am - 11am	Westminster Hall debate Government policy on support for pupils with English as an additional language - Mr Stewart Jackson
11am - 11.30am	Westminster Hall debate Reforming the House of Lords and the number of Peers - David Morris
2.30pm - 4pm	Westminster Hall debate Work of the Crown Prosecution Service - Teresa Pearce
4pm - 4.30pm	Westminster Hall debate Local government funding in Tameside and Oldham - Angela Rayner
4.30pm - 5.30pm	Westminster Hall debate BBC investment in the East and West Midlands - Mark Spencer

Wednesday 24 June 2015

 

9.30am - 11am	Westminster Hall debate Science and research in the UK and regional economies - Paul Blomfield
11am - 11.30am	Westminster Hall debate Leaseholders and housing association ballots - Jim Fitzpatrick
2.30pm - 4pm	Westminster Hall debate Superfast broadband roll-out - Matt Warman
4pm - 4.30pm	Westminster Hall debate Free childcare provision and nursery providers - Julian Sturdy
4.30pm - 5.30pm	Westminster Hall debate National Breastfeeding Week - Alison Thewliss

Thursday 25 June 2015

 

1.30pm	Westminster Hall debate Economic disparities in older industrial areas - Grahame Morris
3pm	Westminster Hall debate Cost of school transport - Mr Nigel Evans

Westminster Hall

In typical British fashion - changes to our political institutions come slowly. Yet in recent years there have been a number of very positive improvements to the working of Parliament. One has been the introduction of "Westminster Hall Debates". These allow for debates outside the main chamber. There is usually more light than the heat associated with Chamber debates.

Further small reforms have been proposed - and the House of Commons Procedure Committee sets out the history of the committee and the rationale for the reforms it proposes. It's a short report - and well worth reading.

The report is available here.

Despite the name - the debates are not held in the magnificent Westminster Hall itself (one of the finest and largest medieval halls in Europe), but in a committee room off the Hall.

The Return Of..... The House of Commons

A look at what's coming up - and how you can watch the House of Commons seek to ensure accountability.




Watch live broadcasts on http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/ or catch up through http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Archive.aspx

Ministerial Responsibility

The central constitutional doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility is a topic of interest for Parliament this week. Tomorrow (13th February) there will be a debate in Westminster Hall [14.30 to 16.00] on ‘Collective Ministerial responsibility’. During this period Baroness Miller of Hendon, a former Government Whip, will “ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the constitutional convention of cabinet collective responsibility as confirmed in the Ministerial Code remains in force” as the first of the daily questions in the House of Lords.

The Ministerial Code (which I have supplied to all my Open University W201 Students, but is available to all at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/ministerial-conduct-and-guidance) sets out the doctrine and its applicability. In summary – “The principle of collective responsibility, save where it is explicitly set aside, requires that Ministers should be able to express their views frankly in the expectation that they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front when decisions have been reached. This in turn requires that the privacy of opinions expressed in Cabinet and Ministerial Committees, including in correspondence, should be maintained.”

There are two aspects to the doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility – Collective, as set out above – and individual. The latter means that the Minister is responsible to Parliament for the work done (or that should have been done) by his department.

The current (10th) edition of Allen and Thompson’s ‘Cases and Materials on Constitutional and Administrative Law’ contains some very good material on the subject (pages 206 to 228). If you have time, it is worth consulting the original material, rather than the excerpts. Parliamentary Material can be found at (General : Hansard: Select Committee Reports) and Government material at (General: White (& other Command) Papers).

If you want to watch Wednesday’s business – the best site to visit is Parliament Live, which despite the name keeps archives.