Downing Street Says » Prorogation-September sittings of the House

» Thursday, October 19, 2006

Prorogation-September sittings of the House

In response to a question, the Leader said that Prorogation – the date of the end of the present parliamentary session – would be approximately a week before the State Opening on November 15, but cautioned that it was not yet fixed. On September sittings of the House, Mr Straw said that there would be a decision before the end of the present session. The House had decided to approve September sittings in 2002, which took effect in 2003 and 2004. It would have continued in 2005 but for the need for essential security work.

This year, the sitting had lapsed. He said he did not feel strongly about the issue, but it was a point of principle that the House should make its own decision about the future of September sittings. The pressure for such sittings had been slightly moderated by his introduction of written questions and ministerial statements in September this year, he added. The decision would be made after a forthcoming debate on House matters.

Mr Straw pointed out that it would be a free vote for the House. Details of the nature of business in the sittings in 2003 and 2004 would be published, along with the estimated additional costs associated with holding the sessions.

To a further question, the Leader replied that he was not yet in a position to announce the dates of next year’s summer recess. It would depend on the vote on September sittings, and there were negotiations – not least with Scottish colleagues – about whether the House should rise earlier in July so that they could be with their children. That was not an unreasonable request.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Post a public comment

Name (required)
E-mail (required)
(You must give an email address, but it will not be displayed to the public.)
Website
(You may give your website, and it will be displayed to the public.)

Comments:

This is not a way of contacting the Prime Minister. If you would like to contact the Prime Minister, go to the 10 Downing Street official site.

Privacy note: Shortly after posting, your name and comment will be displayed on the site. This means that people searching for your name on the Internet will be able to find and read your comment.

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.