The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

The Committee and Public Policy.

Although the peculiar function of the committee consists in passing upon the conflicting claims of the parties that appear before it, the question whether the public welfare will be promoted by the enactment of the bill must be considered also. This is, of course, one of the chief things that the promoters must prove; but the committee seeks no evidence on its own account, nor can it permit a private person who has no locus standi to address it on the subject. In the interest of public policy, however, some safeguards have been devised. In the first place the standing orders direct that in various classes of measures certain provisions must be inserted. These relate to such matters as the level of roads, grade crossings, the amount of mortgages, the time for completing works, deposits to secure completion, minimum rates of fare, the application of general railway acts, leaving open spaces for recreation in enclosure bills, and the erection in London of new workmen's dwellings to replace others that are torn down. In some cases also the committee must report specially any unusual provisions contained in the bill, notably in relation to the borrowing powers of local authorities.

Moreover, on some questions the committee has the benefit of advice from public officials. That private bills must be filed with one or more of the public departments has already been pointed out. In a few cases the departments are directed to submit to Parliament a report upon the bill,[376:1] and they are always at liberty to do so. Under the rules these communications are referred to the committees,[376:2] which are required to notice in their reports the recommendations of the departments, and state the reasons for dissent where they have not been followed.[376:3] Occasionally, representatives of the departments appear before the committees;[377:1] and, what is more important, a general oversight of private bill legislation, with the right to make suggestions, is maintained by the officers of the Houses.[377:2] This is especially true of the Counsel to Mr. Speaker, and of the Chairman of Committees and his counsel in the House of Lords; but the question how effective their supervision is must be deferred until the results of the system are discussed.

Unopposed Bills.

Unopposed bills, that is bills where no adverse petition has been filed, or where the petitioner has not proved a locus standi, do not involve a judicial trial between contestants, but only an examination with a view to the public interest.[377:3] They are, therefore, referred to quite a different committee. Until 1903 it consisted of the Chairman, or Deputy Chairman, of the Committee of Ways and Means, and the Counsel to Mr. Speaker, assisted usually, but not always, by one other member of the House.[377:4] The Select Committee of 1902 on Private Business was of opinion that a body with so much authority ought to be strengthened by the addition of more members directly responsible to the House,[377:5] and in partial fulfilment of its recommendations the standing orders provided in the following year that the Committee on Unopposed Bills should consist of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, of two other members of the House, appointed by the Committee of Selection, and of the Counsel to Mr. Speaker.[378:1]

The bills having already been read through by the Speaker's Counsel, and in part by the Chairman of Ways and Means, the committee goes over them rapidly with the promoters, discussing chiefly such points as have been raised by the Speaker's Counsel, and by any reports from government departments.[378:2] If any other question should come up involving a new and important matter of public policy, the Chairman, who was already overworked, would formerly have avoided the responsibility of deciding it himself by reporting to the House, as he has power to do,[378:3] that the bill ought to be treated as opposed;[378:4] and this although there was no one to conduct the opposition.[378:5] One of the objects of strengthening the committee was to put it in a position to decide all such questions itself. As a matter of fact the committee often makes amendments in a bill, but seldom reports that it ought not to pass.

Report and Consideration.

After a bill, whether opposed or not, has been reported, the House, if dissatisfied, may recommit it either as a whole or with reference to particular clauses, and with or without instructions. When this does not happen, and it is unusual, the bill, if reported without amendment, and not a railway or tramway bill, stands ready for its third reading. If, on the other hand, it has been amended by the committee, or is a railway or tramway bill, it is ordered to lie upon the table for consideration on report.[378:6] At that stage amendments may be proposed, or a motion may be made to recommit, but in order to insure that the standing orders are complied with, both by the private bill committee and by the House itself, the consideration cannot take place until the Chairman of Ways and Means has informed the House that this is the case; nor can any amendments be offered until the Committee on Standing Orders has reported upon them, if the Chairman thinks it proper that they should do so.[379:1]

The last stage is that of third reading where only verbal amendments are in order.[379:2]

Private Bills in the Lords.