Contents
Chamber business
The House met at 11.30 am.
Prayers
1Questions to (1) the Minister for Women and Equalities
(2) the Prime Minister
2Register of Derelict Buildings: Motion for leave to bring in a Bill (Standing Order No. 23)
Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require local authorities to publish a register of derelict buildings in their area; to make provision in respect of the preparation and maintenance of such registers; and for connected purposes;
That Nick Fletcher, Dr Liam Fox, Antony Higginbotham, Mark Eastwood, Damien Moore, Paul Bristow, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Mark Jenkinson, Danny Kruger, Lia Nici, Alexander Stafford and Miriam Cates present the Bill.
Nick Fletcher accordingly presented the Bill.
Bill read the first time; to be read a second time on Friday 24 November, and to be printed (Bill 378).
3Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill: Consideration of Lords Message
Lords Amendments 151E and 151F
Motion made, That this House insists on Commons Amendment 151A and disagrees with the Lords in their Amendments 151E and 151F.—(Kevin Hollinrake.)
Amendment (a) proposed.—(Dame Margaret Hodge.)
Question put, That Amendment (a) be made.
The House divided.
Division No. 349
Ayes: 208 (Tellers: Gerald Jones, Tonia Antoniazzi)
Noes: 274 (Tellers: Joy Morrissey, Scott Mann)
Question negatived.
As it was more than one hour after the commencement of proceedings, the Deputy Speaker put the Questions necessary to bring proceedings on the Lords Message to a conclusion (Programme Order, 4 September).
The following Questions were put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83G).
(1) That this House insists on Commons Amendment 151A and disagrees with the Lords in their Amendments 151E and 151F (Question on a Motion moved by a Minister of the Crown related to a Question already proposed by the Chair).
The House divided.
Division No. 350
Ayes: 280 (Tellers: Joy Morrissey, Scott Mann)
Noes: 207 (Tellers: Tonia Antoniazzi, Gerald Jones)
Question agreed to.
Commons Amendment 151A accordingly insisted upon and Lords Amendments 151E and 151F accordingly disagreed to.
(2) That this House insists on its Amendment 161A in lieu and disagrees with the Lords in their Amendment 161D in lieu (Question on a Motion moved by a Minister of the Crown relevant to a remaining item in the Lords Message).—(Kevin Hollinrake.)
The House divided.
Division No. 351
Ayes: 280 (Tellers: Joy Morrissey, Scott Mann)
Noes: 208 (Tellers: Tonia Antoniazzi, Gerald Jones)
Question agreed to.
Commons Amendment 161A in lieu accordingly insisted upon and Lords Amendment 161D in lieu accordingly disagreed to.
4Non-Domestic Rating Bill: Programme (No. 2)
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83A(7)), That the following provisions shall apply to the Non-Domestic Rating Bill for the purpose of supplementing the Order of 24 April 2023 (Non-Domestic Rating Bill: Programme):
Consideration of Lords Amendments
(1) Proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.
Subsequent stages
(2) Any further Message from the Lords may be considered forthwith without any Question being put.
(3) The proceedings on any further Message from the Lords shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—(Julie Marson.)
Question agreed to.
5Non-Domestic Rating Bill: Consideration of Lords Amendments
The Deputy Speaker announced that Lords Amendment 1 engaged financial privilege.
Lords Amendment 1 agreed to, with Commons privilege waived.
Lords Amendments 2 and 3 agreed to.
6Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: Programme (No. 2)
Ordered, That the Order of 3 July 2023 (Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: Programme) be varied as follows:
(1) Paragraphs (4) and (5) of the Order shall be omitted.
(2) Proceedings on Consideration shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion three hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Motion for this Order.
(3) Proceedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion one hour after their commencement.—(Julie Marson.)
7Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: Consideration of the Bill, not amended in the Public Bill Committee
New Clause NC1— (Chris Stephens)—brought up, and read the first time.
Question proposed, That the Clause be read a second time.
The Deputy Speaker announced a time limit on backbench speeches (Standing Order No. 47(1)).
8Deputy Speaker’s Statement: Election of the Chair of the Defence Committee
The Deputy Speaker announced that Robert Courts had been elected Chair of the Defence Committee (Standing Order No. 122B).
9Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: Consideration of the Bill, not amended in the Public Bill Committee (resumed)
The House resumed the debate.
Clause, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendment 14
Motion made and Question put, That Amendment 14 be made.—(Angela Rayner.)
The House divided.
Division No. 352.
Ayes: 200 (Tellers: Gerald Jones, Tonia Antoniazzi)
Noes: 273 (Tellers: Scott Mann, Joy Morrissey)
Question negatived.
As it was three hours after the commencement of proceedings on Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill: Programme (No. 2) Motion, the Deputy Speaker put the Questions necessary to bring proceedings on Consideration to a conclusion (Programme Order, today).
The following Questions were put forthwith (Standing Order No. 83E).
(1) Motion made and Question put, That Amendment 13 be made (Amendment selected by the Speaker for separate decision).—(Angela Rayner.)
The House divided.
Division No. 353.
Ayes: 197 (Tellers: Tonia Antoniazzi, Gerald Jones)
Noes: 276 (Tellers: Joy Morrissey, Scott Mann)
Question negatived.
(2) Motion made and Question put, That Amendment 7 be made (Amendment selected by the Speaker for separate decision).—(Kit Malthouse.)
The House divided.
Division No. 354.
Ayes: 207 (Tellers: Sir Desmond Swayne, Tonia Antoniazzi)
Noes: 269 (Tellers: Scott Mann, Joy Morrissey)
Question negatived.
(3) Motion made and Question put, That Amendment 28 be made (Amendment selected by the Speaker for separate decision).—(Chris Stephens.)
The House divided.
Division No. 355.
Ayes: 197 (Tellers: Gavin Newlands, Peter Grant)
Noes: 275 (Tellers: Joy Morrissey, Scott Mann)
Question negatived.
10Statutory Instruments: Motion for Approval
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), That the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which were laid before this House on 20 July, be approved.—(Robert Largan.)
Question agreed to.
11Deputy Speaker's Statement: Correction of the record
Motion made and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 150D), That this House—
(1) takes note of the report of the Independent Expert Panel, The Conduct of Mr Peter Bone MP, HC 1904, and the recommendation for sanction of a suspension from the service of the House for six weeks;
(2) takes note of the subsequent report of the Committee on Standards made on 19 October pursuant to Standing Order No. 150E and agrees with the recommendation that Mr Bone should be suspended from the service of the House for six weeks, to run concurrently with the suspension above; and
(3) accordingly suspends Mr Peter Bone from the service of the House for six weeks, namely from Wednesday 25 October to Tuesday 5 December.—(Penny Mordaunt.)
Question agreed to.
(1) A public petition from residents of the United Kingdom relating to DVLA applications in post offices was presented and read by Valerie Vaz.
(2) A public petition from residents of the United Kingdom relating to development proposals at 21 High Trees Avenue, Bournemouth was presented and read by Mr Tobias Ellwood.
Subject: International rail services from Kent (Damian Green)
Resolved, That this House do now adjourn.—(Andrew Stephenson.)
Adjourned at 6.55 pm until tomorrow.
Other Proceedings
Lords Messages
The Lords do not insist on their Amendment to the Procurement Bill [Lords], to which the Commons have disagreed.
16Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
The Lords do not insist on an Amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, to which the Commons have disagreed; and they do not insist on an Amendment to which the Commons have insisted on their disagreement, and they agree without amendment to the Commons Amendment in lieu.
General Committees: Reports
17Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee
Mr Laurence Robertson (Chair) reported the draft Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.
18Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee
Julie Elliott (Chair) reported the draft United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Services Exclusions) Regulations 2023.
Select Committees: Reports
19Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
(1) Keeping the power on: our future energy technology mix: Oral evidence, to be published (HC 1723);
(2) A flexible grid for the future: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1722);
(3) Correspondence from the Minister for Nuclear and Networks: Written evidence, to be published;
(4) Correspondence with energy retailers relating to direct debit billing: Written evidence, to be published;
(5) Correspondence with Scottish Power relating to prepayment meters: Written evidence, to be published;
(6) Heating our homes: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1721)
(Angus Brendan MacNeil).
Correspondence with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs relating to his appearance before the Committee: Written evidence, to be published (Sir William Cash).
21Environmental Audit Committee
(1) Heat resilience and sustainable cooling: Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 1671);
(2) Mapping the path to net zero: Written evidence, to be published (HC 104);
(3) Outdoor and indoor air quality targets: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1411);
(4) The environmental sustainability of the Department for Education: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1839)
(Philip Dunne).
(1) Policing Priorities: Fifth Report, to be printed, with the formal minutes relating to the Report (HC 635);
(2) Correspondence from the Security Minister relating to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (Remedial) Order 2023: Written evidence, to be published
(Dame Diana Johnson).
23Human Rights (Joint Committee on)
Human Rights at work: Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 1161) (Joanna Cherry).
24Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Work of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: Oral evidence, to be published (HC 86) (Simon Hoare).
25Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
(1) Governance of artificial intelligence (AI): Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 945);
(2) Correspondence from the Minister for Nuclear and Networks relating to an update to the UK’s Fusion Strategy: Written evidence to be published
(3) Correspondence from the Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Technology relating to Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) and accompanying summary from the UK Space Agency and report from London Economics: Written evidence to be published;
(Greg Clark).
26Statutory Instruments (Joint Committee on)
Forty-ninth Report, to be printed, with the formal minutes relating to the Report (HC 4-xlix) (Jessica Morden).
27Statutory Instruments (Select Committee on)
Twentieth Report, to be printed, with the formal minutes relating to the Report (HC 5-xx) (Jessica Morden).
Accessible transport: legal obligations: Oral evidence, to be published (HC 580) (Iain Stewart).
(1) Wales as a global tourist destination: Government Response to the Committee’s Fourth Report: Sixth Special Report, to be published (HC 1835);
(2) Defence industry in Wales: Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 1259)
(Stephen Crabb).
30Women and Equalities Committee
(1) Appointment of the Chair of the Social Mobility Commission: Alun Francis OBE:
(i) Seventh Report, to be printed, with the formal minutes relating to the Report (HC 1806);
(ii) Oral evidence, to be published (HC 1806);
(2) Sexual assault and harassment within the NHS workforce: Oral evidence, to be published (HC (1903);
(3) Sexism and inequalities in sport: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1346);
(4) Work of the Equality and Human Rights Commission: Written evidence, to be published (HC 852)
(Caroline Nokes).
(1) Benefit levels in the UK: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1126);
(2) Correspondence with the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work relating to Carer’s Allowance: Written evidence, to be published;
(3) Correspondence with the Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression relating to asbestos: Written evidence, to be published;
(4) Correspondence with the Secretary of State relating to the Work Capability Assessment consultation: Written evidence, to be published;
(5) Defined benefit pension schemes: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1218);
(6) Safeguarding vulnerable claimants: Written evidence, to be published (HC 1774)
(Sir Stephen Timms).
Lindsay Hoyle
Speaker
Westminster Hall
The sitting began at 9.30 am.
Business appointed by the Chairman of Ways and Means (Standing Order No. 10(6))
1Planning considerations for renewable energy providers
Resolved, That this House has considered planning considerations for renewable energy providers.—(Siobhan Baillie.)
Resolved, That this House has considered World Arthritis Day.—(Tom Randall.)
The sitting was suspended between 11.20 am and 2.30 pm (Standing Order No. 10(1)(b)).
Motion made and Question proposed, That this House has considered the future of horseracing.—(Matt Hancock.)
At 4pm, the Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).
4Sustainability of rural postal services
Resolved, That this House has considered the sustainability of rural postal services.—(Jamie Stone.)
5Government support for a circular economy
Motion made and Question proposed, That this House has considered Government support for a circular economy.—(Caroline Ansell.)
At 5.30 pm, the Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(14)).
Sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).
Adjourned at 5.30 pm.
Eleanor Laing
Chairman of Ways and Means
Papers Laid
Papers subject to Affirmative Resolution
1Financial Services and Markets
Draft Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (by Statutory Instrument), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Andrew Griffith)
Draft Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum and an Impact Assessment (by Command) (Secretary Thérèse Coffey)
Papers subject to Negative Resolution
Immigration (Removal Notices) Regulations 2023 (SI, 2023, No. 1127), dated 25 October 2023 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Secretary Suella Braverman)
National Security (Prohibited Places) (Civil Nuclear) Regulations 2023 (SI, 2023, No. 1114), dated 24 October 2023 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Secretary Claire Coutinho)
Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023 (SI, 2023, No. 1129), dated 25 October 2023 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Secretary Suella Braverman)
M621 Motorway (Off Side Lane Prohibition Disapplication) (No. 3) Regulations 2023 (SI, 2023, No. 1111), dated 23 October 2023 (by Act), with an Explanatory Memorandum (by Command) (Secretary Mark Harper)
Other papers
7Constitutional Reform and Governance
Accounts of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund for 2022–23, with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (by Act), to be printed (HC 1939) (Clerk of the House)
Election for Chair of Defence Committee: Results (The Speaker)
Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on Cross Government: Lessons learned: Monitoring and responding to companies in distress (by Act), to be printed (HC 1866) (Clerk of the House)
Report and Accounts of the UK Infrastructure Bank for 2022–23, with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (by Act), to be printed (HC 1930) (Andrew Griffith)
Report and Accounts of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust for 2022–23 (by Act) (Secretary Steve Barclay)
CORRECTIONS
Wednesday 16 June 2021
Item 53(1) (Reports from Select Committees) should have read
(1) Protecting pension savers—five years on from the pension freedoms: Accessing pension savings: Oral and written evidence, to be published (HC 237);
Tuesday 24 October 2023
The following item should have appeared under item 29 (Other proceedings):
Justice Committee
(1) Recent urgent notifications in the prison estate: Oral evidence, to be published (HC 1929);
(2) Correspondence from the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice relating to the Sentencing Act 2020: Written evidence, to be published;
(3) Correspondence from the Minister for Prisons and Probation: Written evidence, to be published
(Sir Robert Neill).