UK Parliament / Open data

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Wednesday, 4 November 2009, in the House of Commons.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

498 c873-959 

Session

2008-09

Department

Ministry of Justice

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. Explanatory Notes Bill 142-EN also published.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Bills
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-2671
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. Government response to the Public Administration Select Committee's tenth report of Session 2007-08 (HC 499).
Monday, 20 July 2009
Command papers
House of Commons
Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. Government response to the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill first report of session 2007-08 (HC 551 2007-08).
Monday, 20 July 2009
Command papers
House of Lords
House of Commons

Show all related items (6)

Proceeding contributions

Wayne David | 498 c956-7 (Link to this contribution) There are no budgetary implications for this Government. Any budgetary implications would be in the ...
David Gauke | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a less partisan point. Does this measure have any budgetary implications and, if so, wh...

Show all contributions (202)
Wayne David | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Gentleman that that is not the case. Incidentally, the Labour party is back on top...
David Gauke | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that the delay was due to a technical difficulty. Will he reassure the Committee t...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c959 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) for his contribution, which reflects his passi...
David Howarth | 498 c958-9 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. It is something of a shame that a new clause ...
Wayne David | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendment 43.
Wayne David | 498 c956 (Link to this contribution) New clause 24 will confer legislative competence on the National Assembly for Wales. Such provisions...
David Howarth | 498 c953 (Link to this contribution) That explains things, and I thank the Minister. Obviously the issue here is whether someone could be...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c954 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 42, page 71, line 20, at end insert—
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c954 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 41, page 21, line 25, leave out 'must' and insert
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c951-3 (Link to this contribution) Off the top of my head, I cannot guarantee that, but I will endeavour to get a response to the hon. ...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c953 (Link to this contribution) We obviously obtained the views of the commission and considered them carefully. We think that the t...
David Howarth | 498 c953 (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course I will seek leave to withdraw amendment 29, and I thank the Government and the Father...
Lord Tyrie | 498 c951 (Link to this contribution) Will the definition of working for the Crown be the same as the definition that will be used for det...
David Howarth | 498 c950-1 (Link to this contribution) The amendments relate to discrepancies between the contents of the Bill and the Public Accounts Comm...
Alan Williams | 498 c951 (Link to this contribution) The proposal relating to the advisory committee is certainly what we originally recommended. I think...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c950 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
David Howarth | 498 c950 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 29, page 20, line 33, leave out 'specified person' and insert 'Advisory Comm...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c946 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the Aye Lobby.
David Gauke | 498 c946 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for providing the information about the current CAG. Given that he was...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c945-6 (Link to this contribution) Of course, we share everybody's wishes for greater transparency, and, as has been said by many Membe...
Alan Williams | 498 c928-9 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recollect that the one proposal that we turned down from Tiner was his sugge...
Edward Leigh | 498 c933 (Link to this contribution) I have taken advice on this. The Comptroller and Auditor General has statutory access to contractors...
Edward Leigh | 498 c929-30 (Link to this contribution) I should have made that clear; it is a very important point. In other words, it is virtually impossi...
Philip Dunne | 498 c930-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for clarifying the important tenets o...
Edward Leigh | 498 c929 (Link to this contribution) It was the same process. I am grateful to the Father of the House for his generous offer to surrende...
Alan Williams | 498 c929 (Link to this contribution) Will the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee bear in mind that there is an important extra saf...
Edward Leigh | 498 c931-2 (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, morale in the National Audit Office is now very high. It went through a sticky p...
David Howarth | 498 c932-3 (Link to this contribution) May I say that I was immensely reassured by the speech of the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commit...
Edward Leigh | 498 c931 (Link to this contribution) I hope that I am not giving away any confidences by saying that Amyas Morse told me this week that i...
Lord Tyrie | 498 c931 (Link to this contribution) Does the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee agree that, taking all things into account, we no...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c942 (Link to this contribution) It is indeed important that we have had this debate and put that on record. Of course, the Public Ac...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c943 (Link to this contribution) I think "belt and braces" is probably an appropriate description! The CAG carries out a huge range o...
David Howarth | 498 c943 (Link to this contribution) I want to ask about the necessity of this clause. The Father of the House might correct me, but I do...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c943 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to respond to the hon. Gentleman. The clause does not set out a new power. In the past th...
Edward Leigh | 498 c945 (Link to this contribution) I am fairly relaxed about amendment 57. The CAG publishes details already of all his expenses and al...
David Gauke | 498 c944 (Link to this contribution) The Father of the House makes a good point—the CAG is further ahead. On the whole, we believe there ...
Alan Williams | 498 c944 (Link to this contribution) The CAG already submits his expenses to me as Chairman of the commission and publishes them on a six...
David Gauke | 498 c943-4 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 57, in clause 40, page 20, line 20, at end insert— ‘(10) All remuneration, ...
Philip Dunne | 498 c945 (Link to this contribution) I support amendment 57. It is obviously ironic that Members should be talking about the pay and rati...
David Gauke | 498 c939 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The Father of the House states the essence of that case. The alternative case, as advocated ...
Philip Dunne | 498 c939-40 (Link to this contribution) I endorse my hon. Friend's tentative concerns and shall start where he finished—on the extent to whi...
David Howarth | 498 c940 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must have covered the point by now, but will he clarify that he did not mean that...
Philip Dunne | 498 c940 (Link to this contribution) I completely understand that point and am grateful for that clarification. Indeed, as the Father of ...
Philip Dunne | 498 c940 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. If I have given the impression that I am concerned about that, I would like to correct it. T...
Philip Dunne | 498 c941 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that clarification. I understand the need to put in place structures to help the i...
Alan Williams | 498 c939 (Link to this contribution) Under the Bill, the CAG retains his absolute discretion in relation to his statutory duties. It cann...
David Gauke | 498 c938-9 (Link to this contribution) Clause 38 deals with the status of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Subsection (8) highlights an...
Kelvin Hopkins | 498 c938 (Link to this contribution) I give notice that I shall seek leave to withdraw amendment 68, but I want to make a few remarks in ...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c937-8 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree. Although we are reforming it and making the NAO more accountable, there is still a v...
Philip Dunne | 498 c937 (Link to this contribution) The Minister referred a moment ago to the powers of the Public Accounts Commission being strengthene...
Alan Williams | 498 c937 (Link to this contribution) To meet that situation, we built in a requirement that there should be a code to govern the relation...
David Howarth | 498 c933 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. The purpose is thought to be only to audit the Government Department and n...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c934-5 (Link to this contribution) I can certainly confirm that that is the Government's intention. After all the work the Chair of the...
David Howarth | 498 c934 (Link to this contribution) At this point, will the Minister clear up one particular problem with the drafting of clause 37? Cla...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c935-6 (Link to this contribution) I can only say to the hon. Gentleman that, as I said just now, further work is ongoing on what we ca...
David Gauke | 498 c935 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister explain, therefore, why the Government have, in recent years, refused to publish th...
David Howarth | 498 c933 (Link to this contribution) I accept that point from the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In fact, many of these consi...
Edward Leigh | 498 c933 (Link to this contribution) The Bill is primarily about the governance of the National Audit Office; it is not about audit right...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c934 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Sir Alan. This part of the Bill i...
David Heath | 498 c882-3 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for getting us out of a procedural conundrum in respect of exactly who should be speaking,...
Lord Wills | 498 c883 (Link to this contribution) As has been discussed, clause 35 gives effect to schedule 5, which makes amendments relating to judi...
Edward Timpson | 498 c884 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister might recall, this was an issue that I raised with the Lord Chancellor on Second Rea...
Lord Wills | 498 c884 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and if he will bear with me, I shall come to that point as I pro...
Edward Timpson | 498 c883 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has mentioned that some minor amendments to this Bill are being proposed to try to stre...
Lord Wills | 498 c883 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to set out our thinking. It would give me a little more help in addressing the hon. Gentl...
Pete Wishart | 498 c879 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady was articulating a powerful point before she was interrupted in full flow by the Minis...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 498 c879 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for agreeing with my point. Like me, he spends many hours in Delegated Le...
Lord Wills | 498 c879 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief, as I do not want to protract proceedings unduly. I am sure the whole House has not...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 498 c879-80 (Link to this contribution) The Minister shows great faith in his Government, but neither the hon. Member for Perth and North Pe...
David Heath | 498 c881-2 (Link to this contribution) I wish to ask the Minister exactly what the words "pared down" mean. That was the Government's descr...
Lord Wills | 498 c882 (Link to this contribution) I will come to the burden of what the hon. Gentleman has been saying, but it may help the Committee ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c882 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Minister is correct. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) was moving his di...
Lord Wills | 498 c882 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much, Sir Michael. If the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome wants to ask individual ...
David Heath | 498 c882 (Link to this contribution) I just want to be clear, Sir Michael, whether we are dealing with schedule 5 stand part at the same ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c882 (Link to this contribution) It was the hon. Gentleman who led us astray in the first place by moving his discussion from the cla...
Lord Wills | 498 c878 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to interrupt the hon. Lady in the middle of her flow, but she is straying into very da...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 498 c878 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that answer, which is perfectly in order, and I appreciate that that is as ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 498 c879 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister's protection, and I fully appreciate, and agree with, what he says ab...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 498 c877 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Government's approach to the introduction of time limits for human rights action again...
Lord Wills | 498 c878 (Link to this contribution) I just want to see if I can set the hon. Lady's mind at rest on this. This measure affects all conve...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 498 c877-8 (Link to this contribution) We also welcome these provisions. I welcome the provisions already in the Bill, and I was pleased to...
Pete Wishart | 498 c876 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I have been a little less generous than I should have been. Of course I understand that a pr...
Lord Wills | 498 c876-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made an extremely important point about human rights legislation. I agree tha...
David Heath | 498 c876 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to oppose the amendments and new clause. I entirely understand the route by which th...
Lord Wills | 498 c876 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that this is an immensely complex legal issue? Does he also recogn...
Pete Wishart | 498 c875 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. In fact, the House passed an order throug...
David Heath | 498 c875 (Link to this contribution) The order passed in this House enabled the Scottish Parliament to pass amendments to the Scotland Ac...
Pete Wishart | 498 c875 (Link to this contribution) I support Government new clause 43 and hope that this is the end of a protracted and difficult saga ...
Lord Wills | 498 c873-5 (Link to this contribution) May I say what a pleasure it is be here, Sir Michael, and to speak to amendments 90 and 91 and new c...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c873 (Link to this contribution) I remind the Committee that with this we are considering the following:
Lord Wills | 498 c873 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 90, page 16, line 28, leave out lines 28 to 30 and insert—
Lord Wills | 498 c884-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is nodding. There is general agreement that this needs to be quicker, and the pro...
Lord Wills | 498 c887-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman is using the very wide margin of appreciation afforded to Opposition...
David Heath | 498 c887 (Link to this contribution) I think that we can take it from what the Minister has said that, when the Government told the Joint...
Lord Wills | 498 c888-9 (Link to this contribution) I think that it partially answers the hon. Gentleman's question if I say that we are seeking to corr...
David Heath | 498 c888 (Link to this contribution) I have a couple of very brief questions about clause 36. They also relate to Government new clause 2...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 498 c890 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister's comments on new clause 23. I have a couple of brief questions. I should be ...
Lord Wills | 498 c889-90 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. In speaking to the new clause, I hope I will ...
Lord Wills | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) I intervene with great hesitancy because I am interested in the word picture that he is painting of ...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right about that. It indicates the Government's cavalier attitude to parts of the ...
Oliver Heald | 498 c891-2 (Link to this contribution) Is my recollection correct, and does my hon. Friend remember, that the Lord Chief Justice was told f...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c890-1 (Link to this contribution) I should declare an interest as a barrister. I should also point out that I am not at present seekin...
Jeremy Wright | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that this issue is part and parcel of the problem with the Government's ov...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) Again, my hon. Friend, who followed the issue carefully at the time, is absolutely spot-on. Indeed, ...
Oliver Heald | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the JAC is an important part of the patchwork of compromises and deci...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c892 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for taking over the role of the Chair. It is important to understand t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c890 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss new clause 22—
Lord Wills | 498 c890 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his welcome for the new clause and for his questions. We con...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c890 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
David Gauke | 498 c926 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I am sure that his points will be noted. Both roles would be im...
Oliver Heald | 498 c926 (Link to this contribution) My first thought was that, to assess the sustainability of public finances, we need expert economist...
Edward Leigh | 498 c927-8 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak in favour of clause 37, which covers the office of the Comptroller and Auditor Gener...
David Gauke | 498 c924-5 (Link to this contribution) In which case, Sir Alan, I shall make those points now. This part of the Bill, as the Father of the...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c924 (Link to this contribution) Order. I was hoping not to have a stand part debate in view of the fact that, with the new clause, t...
David Gauke | 498 c926 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend's intervention. That would be an interesting structure, although I ...
Oliver Heald | 498 c926 (Link to this contribution) I have been wondering whether the CAG would be the right person to be in charge of the office for bu...
Edward Leigh | 498 c928 (Link to this contribution) The chairman's role was simply to advise. He is a very distinguished gentleman—he is the dean of the...
Philip Dunne | 498 c928 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has just referred to the chairman of the National Audit Office having some involvemen...
Kelvin Hopkins | 498 c923 (Link to this contribution) I accept entirely what my right hon. Friend says, but I hope that one purpose of the Bill is to rest...
Alan Williams | 498 c923 (Link to this contribution) That is not the purpose of the Bill. The statutory powers are already in place, and the purpose of t...
Kelvin Hopkins | 498 c923 (Link to this contribution) It gives me great pleasure to speak to these amendments, if briefly. In a major piece of legislatio...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c923 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Kelvin Hopkins | 498 c922 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 68, page 18, line 19, at end add—
Lord Wills | 498 c917-8 (Link to this contribution) No, as I want to come to the real burden of my remarks. We have spent quite a lot of time on what ev...
David Gauke | 498 c924 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for tabling these amendments and the new clause. I suspect that the quest...
Kelvin Hopkins | 498 c923 (Link to this contribution) Clearly my right hon. Friend and I disagree, but I hope it will be accepted that the restatement of ...
David Heath | 498 c914 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman wishes to intervene on the subject of carpets.
David Heath | 498 c914-5 (Link to this contribution) We have got an excellent building. Those who represent the top of this country's judicial processes ...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c916 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has challenged me, and I shall investigate this fully, but surely the point is that the...
Lord Wills | 498 c915-6 (Link to this contribution) Again, we have had a very interesting debate. The hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham...
Lord Wills | 498 c916 (Link to this contribution) When I say like for like, I know that the running costs are not exactly the same and that of course ...
Lord Wills | 498 c917 (Link to this contribution) Of course we must get value for money, which is exactly what I said. As I shall describe in a moment...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 498 c911 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman that we are discussing whether to have a chief executive of the S...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c912 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly confident that I am comparing like with like. The actual costs of running the Judicia...
Lord Wills | 498 c912 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but is he absolutely confident that he is comparing like...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c911 (Link to this contribution) I will come on to that quickly, and I am grateful to you, Mrs. Anderson, for that reminder. Obviousl...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c913 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a distinguished academic and we have debated such issues many times. He will r...
David Howarth | 498 c913 (Link to this contribution) I am now a little concerned by the hon. Gentleman's argument, because it seems to me that it means t...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c912-3 (Link to this contribution) Yes—the actual administrative costs: the running costs. As Hansard shows, in 2005 the Minister reply...
Lord Wills | 498 c912 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to intervene on the hon. Gentleman again, but I want to be absolutely clear about this. H...
David Heath | 498 c913-4 (Link to this contribution) I was expecting a totally different argument from the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellin...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c910 (Link to this contribution) I will be brief. The Minister has been his normal charming self. I do not agree with everything he s...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c911 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. New clause 21 relates to the Supreme Court. A...
Jeremy Wright | 498 c907-8 (Link to this contribution) Is not the central thesis of the argument put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for North-East He...
Lord Wills | 498 c908 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, because I was about to come to precisely ...
David Howarth | 498 c908 (Link to this contribution) May I support the Minister even further? It is clear to those who have studied the judiciary over lo...
Lord Wills | 498 c908-10 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman who, as always, brings a great deal of learning and knowledge to...
Oliver Heald | 498 c906 (Link to this contribution) Is not the fault in the Minister's thinking the fact that, in Britain, that has never been our way o...
Lord Wills | 498 c907 (Link to this contribution) With all respect for the hon. Gentleman, his understanding of our constitutional history is flawed. ...
Oliver Heald | 498 c907 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the Minister that there are elements of separated powers in Britain, because each of th...
Lord Wills | 498 c907 (Link to this contribution) Of course the hon. Gentleman is right. We do not have a written constitution in which these things a...
Lord Wills | 498 c906 (Link to this contribution) May I start by welcoming you to the Chair, Mrs. Anderson? You have assumed it since we began this de...
David Heath | 498 c905-6 (Link to this contribution) There is an awful lot wrong with ministerial appointments, but let us not divert ourselves by discus...
Oliver Heald | 498 c904 (Link to this contribution) It is one thing to hark back to the Victorian period, but the ladies justices of appeal, who have be...
David Heath | 498 c904-5 (Link to this contribution) But not enough of them. And look at the Supreme Court—there are not enough there! We cannot hold up ...
Oliver Heald | 498 c904 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think there would be any difficulties with a system in which the Lord Chance...
Edward Timpson | 498 c903 (Link to this contribution) Why does the hon. Gentleman think that the Joint Committee came to the position that the JAC was bei...
David Heath | 498 c903 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, a process, however simple, can be delayed in its execution. It might well be that those c...
David Heath | 498 c902-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely, and it showed good co-operation between the two ends of Parliament and with the se...
Jeremy Wright | 498 c895 (Link to this contribution) In the context that my hon. Friend is correctly describing, is it not all the more important to ensu...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c897-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend, who until his spectacular by-election victory was active in the courts day i...
Jeremy Wright | 498 c898 (Link to this contribution) Given that the Government's intention in setting up the JAC was to encourage those who would not oth...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c898-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, because it leads me on to a briefing that I h...
Oliver Heald | 498 c899-901 (Link to this contribution) May I start by talking about the quality of judiciary that we want to attract in this country? We ha...
Oliver Heald | 498 c902 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman obviously has all the necessary trappings to become a judge, as he is asking who ...
David Heath | 498 c902 (Link to this contribution) I listened carefully to the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) and I heard much bac...
Oliver Heald | 498 c902 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that a combination of Lord Woolf and the Conservative and Liberal Demo...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c895-7 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend asked me, "Is the JAC working?", I would say that it is not doing a bad job. Howev...
Edward Timpson | 498 c897 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister should welcome new clauses 20 and 22, as they would cont...
Oliver Heald | 498 c893 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one great thing about ethnic minority solicitors is that they have be...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c892-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is 100 per cent. correct, because we have seen a hotchpotch of different reforms. Ind...
David Heath | 498 c894 (Link to this contribution) I am listening intently to the preamble to the subject of the hon. Gentleman's new clauses. I unders...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c894 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman waits a little while, he will hear the answer, because I am about to come to i...
Lord Wills | 498 c894 (Link to this contribution) Again, may I just say how much I am enjoying this paean of praise to equality and diversity? It is p...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c894 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is obviously desperate to join the Chairmen's Panel, whereupon he will be able to contr...
Lord Wills | 498 c895 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman remind the Committee of the Conservative plans to increase the legal aid budg...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c895 (Link to this contribution) We have no plans to increase the amount of money for the legal aid budget. That budget is £2.1 billi...
Lord Wills | 498 c894 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is now getting to the guts of his argument, but will he clarify something, as muc...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c894-5 (Link to this contribution) I think that they are excellent appointments, but they could have taken place under the old system a...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c893 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that observation, because it illustrates the Government's comple...
Alan Williams | 498 c940 (Link to this contribution) May I clarify that it was in that very area of work, throughout the world and so on, that some of th...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c914 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman obviously never appeared before a Crown court judge in that building when it was ...
Edward Timpson | 498 c916 (Link to this contribution) I take the Minister's point about the Supreme Court's being the apex of our judicial system, but mos...
David Heath | 498 c877 (Link to this contribution) And I am grateful to the Minister for his intervention. Such arguments often go without adequate reb...
David Howarth | 498 c943 (Link to this contribution) In a way that is a rather disturbing answer, because clause 38 already states:""The Comptroller and ...
Edward Leigh | 498 c936 (Link to this contribution) Let us be practical about this. We worked as a team. I was sitting there with Nick Macpherson, the p...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c937 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Father of the House for that intervention, too. It is important that we have seen the pr...
Philip Dunne | 498 c934 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to detain the Committee for long, but I would like to follow up the observation I ma...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry | 498 c951 (Link to this contribution) As we have established this afternoon, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General was set up ...
Alan Williams | 498 c941 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right in what he said about expenses. We virtually dealt with that by having t...
Edward Leigh | 498 c941-2 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can explain how the National Audit Office will work as a corporate entity. As such, it wil...
Lord Bellingham | 498 c918-9 (Link to this contribution) The Minister, in his usual charming way, has been extremely persuasive. Although he made some good p...
David Heath | 498 c904 (Link to this contribution) In the case of the current Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice, the difference would probably not...

Subjects

Devolved matters
Audit
Costs
Court of Appeal
Legal profession
Human rights
Judiciary
Expenditure
Legislative competence
Judicial Appointments Commission for England and Wales
Medical examinations
Northern Ireland
Pay
Public appointments
National Assembly for Wales
Public expenditure
Ministers
Limitation of actions
National Audit Office
Scotland
Tribunals
Supreme Court
Resignations
Auditor General for Wales
Lord Justices of Appeal

Legislation

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill 2008-09 to 2009-10

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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